Category Archives: Teachers

Last night’s House Education Committee hearing on Senate Bill 191 went really late. My mom made me go to bed, so I missed a lot of it. But my Education Policy Center friends tell me it was quite the show. And given the reports I’ve seen, I have to agree. Kudos goes to three reporters (along with legislative staff and others) who stayed late to burn the midnight oil until the hearing ended at 12:37 AM. They have a strong case for earning overtime — if not combat — pay. Oh, the melodrama their stories just begin to tell….

I bet you didn’t know it’s Teacher Appreciation Week. As we near the end of the year for most Colorado schools, it’s a perfectly fitting time to show your appreciation to your teacher, your child’s teacher or some other important teacher in your life. Why else is it fitting? It’s also THE week in the Colorado House of Representatives for Senate Bill 191, the Great Teachers and Leaders bill. Important policy questions about teacher quality that will have profound impacts on Colorado schools and classrooms will be decided this week. Some teachers come down on one side of SB 191, and some on the other. But as I pointed out on Monday, only one side gets tax funding to argue its case. Another favor you can do to show appreciation to Colorado teachers at least is to point them to the information on the Independent Teachers website, so they can make the best informed decisions about their professional memberships and the uses of their funds for political purposes. Information teachers and other education employees in our state can use all year long. Whatever you do, I hope you don’t end up saying “Screw Teacher Appreciation Week.”

A couple weeks ago I brought your attention to the fact that it was THE week for Senate Bill 191, the monumental effort to reform Colorado’s teacher evaluation and tenure system. Well, now that THE week is over and the bill passed the senate, this week really is THE week — as it goes up for a critical House Education Committee vote on Thursday. In the meantime, the heated debate over SB 191 has brought attention back to a locally-negotiated special perk for many teachers unions — tax-funded release time from the classroom for teachers to lobby against the bill. I have asked the question before: Where is the accountability for school employee union leave activities? In an op-ed published three (count ’em, three) places since Friday, my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow says the latest experience with release time to rally against SB 191 makes the issue as relevant and as significant as ever. Take your pick:

When I saw the opinion article in today’s Denver Post titled “Keep the government out of teaching,” I thought I was going to encounter a radical libertarian argument for the “separation of school and state” — or at least something like universal vouchers. You start reading the piece, and realize it’s a response to a previous column written by local radio talk host Mike Rosen defending the Texas State Board of Education’s newly-approved social studies curriculum. Oh, okay. So judging by the title then, this column is arguing for government bodies to stop imposing curriculum decisions on schools or for expanding school choice so parents can pick a school with a different curriculum. Right?

People in Iowa, avert your eyes for a moment. The shame might hurt too much. Did you see this story? Thanks to Mike Antonucci, I learned today about the “teacher who Un Des-Moines her own protest.” For all you Cleveland Indians fans out there, that’s what we call a pun. The Iowa State Daily tells us more about the protest: Earlier that week, students arranged a gathering outside of Merrill Middle School in Des Moines to protest the cuts before the school day started March 8. The rally was organized by Theresa Hoffman’s language arts students while Hoffman got an OK with Merrill’s principal. “They were very upset that we lost shop and drama [last year], and then when they heard we were going to lose vocal music and that I am retiring and a math teacher is retiring, and they’re not replacing us, they’re concerned with the size of classes,” Hoffman explained

As far as education reform issues go, this year’s Colorado legislative session has been kind of humdrum. Until now. Yes, this week is THE week. Senate Bill 191 — the proposal I’ve told you about that will overhaul our state’s evaluation and tenure system for the better — will be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday and Thursday. If you’re not too familiar with SB 191, or you want a better sense of what exactly it will do and which groups are lining up to support or oppose the bill, then click the play button below (or follow this link) to listen to lead sponsor Senator Michael Johnston, D-Denver, discuss it with Ben DeGrow on a new iVoices podcast: Stay tuned. My Education Policy Center friends and I have just begun to cover this issue. (And if there happens to be another “THE week” after this one, don’t blame me for my youthful exuberance and excitement.

Update: Reactions to Governor Crist’s decision are pretty strong, including the Eduwonk giving Crist the ironic “it’s all about the kids” award and Andy Smarick labeling the move “the most disappointing education policy decision by a major Republican officeholder in recent memory.” Just a short post today: Bad education reform news from the state of Florida (I know, it’s hard to believe). Governor Charlie Crist has vetoed Senate Bill 6 — which would have made it easier to dismiss ineffective teachers, while tying teacher compensation more closely to demonstrated gains in student learning. Was the bill perfect? As Rick Hess–one of the sharpest education reformers out there–points out, certainly not. But it was a “game-changer”: …[G]iven the fierce battle that the FEA and its brethren have waged against even more nuanced efforts to rethink tenure and pay, the choice is not between this ham-handed bill and a more elegant cousin but between SB6 and the status quo. Given that choice, there’s no contest–give me SB6. If you have 3 or 4 minutes to spare, listen to education reform godfathers Paul Peterson and Checker Finn try to unravel the politics behind Crist’s decision to veto the bill. There… See? I can […]

The always smart Dr. Jay Greene makes an important observation today about the tendency of some to catch “Reformer’s Disease”: Yes, schools need to get rid of bad teachers and the tenure that protects them. Yes, schools need solid standards and curricula. But people need to avoid Reformer’s Disease and remember that they can’t simply impose solutions on an unwilling system governed by perverse incentives. Choice and competition are not at odds with tenure reform or standards reform. Competition is a necessary part of how one actually accomplishes and sustains those other reforms. I’m not a hypochondriac or anything, but you’ll forgive me if I had to run to the mirror to see if my tongue was coated or there were any spots breaking out on my face. Nope. No fever, either. I think I’m for the most part free and clear of “Reformer’s Disease.”

The Colorado state legislature has been in session for three months now (only one more to go!), and finally we get to the excitement of debating a truly significant education reform bill. With Democratic state senator Michael Johnston at the forefront, the newly introduced Senate Bill 191 (PDF) would overhaul our state’s teacher evaluation and tenure system for the better. Here’s a strong flavor of what the legislation proposes to do: Key provisions of the bill include annual teacher and principal evaluations, with teacher evaluations to be based 50 percent on student growth and principal evaluations based two-thirds on student growth and the demonstrated effectiveness of a principal’s teachers. The bill also would require that tenure be earned after three consecutive years of effectiveness as determined by evaluations. Tenured teachers could be returned to probation if they don’t have good evaluations for two years. The bill also would require the mutual consent for placement of teachers in specific schools and establishes procedures for handling teachers who aren’t placed. It also specifies that evaluations can be considered when layoffs are made.

Do individual teachers have a right to decide how their money is spent on politics? A few years ago the U.S. Supreme Court upheld common sense and unanimously ruled in the Davenport case that the answer is Yes. The case originated from a lawsuit by the state of Washington and a group of teachers whose funds were being misused by the union. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) in Olympia, Washington, did the hard work and led the charge in filing the complaint that brought the abuses to the state’s attention. Last week EFF won final victory (and closure) in the case, as the Washington Education Association officially signed off on a settlement that “will pay $1.2 million in penalties and restitution, not to mention the attorneys fees spent to defend itself.” You know that’s a big deal, because the case has been going on longer than little old me has been alive … Wow! EFF’s Mike Reitz, a recurring favorite iVoices guest, sat down with my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow to talk about the basic facts of the case, the cause for celebration, and what lies ahead in the fight for union accountability and public employees’ free speech […]