Every child is always a winner … Children just need better self-esteem … We only need to use positive incentives to help children learn more … Let’s reward the good but pretend like the bad doesn’t exist …

I’m only 5 years old, and I get that this is marshmallow world nonsense. In fact, it’s the kind of silliness that makes many people question (sometimes fairly, sometimes not) the value of much of what goes on in public education. It gets even worse when the principle is applied not only to students, but also to teachers. At least if the union has its way.

Witness the evidence from Chicago, a city with many failing schools: principal evaluations found only 3 out of every 1,000 teachers had unsatisfactory performance.

While unions thrive on fears of bogeyman administrators who take out their vindictiveness on good teachers they don’t like, this evidence at least indicates the problem tips in the other direction. In any case, wouldn’t a more objective data system be better?

There’s a bill in the Colorado legislature to set up a teacher tracking database that will help the state measure the effectiveness of individual teachers. We know that the quality of the instructor is the single most important factor in helping students to learn more. By design, House Bill 1065 sets up a pilot program using objective measures to help Colorado track which teachers are good, which ones are okay, and which ones just aren’t cutting it at all.

As the Canon City Daily Record explains, the Colorado Education Association still is unhappy:

It’s beyond that point that the CEA breaks with its critics. The union does not want such a system to be used in negative appraisals.

CEA is doing what CEA is supposed to do. Every child teacher is always a winner … Children Teachers just need better self-esteem … We only need to use positive incentives to help children learn more teachers teach better …

I think our state’s grown-ups, especially those who make policy, should use more sense and take a more balanced approach. For the sake of kids like me, please realize there are two sides of the equation when it comes to ensuring the highest-quality instructors.