Legislators Balk at Tying Teacher Tenure to Student Tests

I was going to go off on a rant about this outrageous likely action by the NY State legislature, but I don't need to -- to my surprise (and delight), the NYT editorial page did it for me!

April 9, 2008

Editorial

Albany Fails Again

Prepare to hand out more demerits in New York’s capital. One of the reasons that the budget is late this year has nothing to do with the state’s $124 billion spending plan. The back-room debate in recent days has focused on a piece of language, which was mysteriously inserted into the education section of the budget, that bars school administrators from considering student test scores when determining whether a teacher deserves to get tenure.

It is an absurd ban that does a disservice to the state’s millions of public school students. The State Legislature should remove this language from the budget.

To judge whether a teacher elevates the class or sets students spiraling backward, administrators should look at the biggest possible picture. That includes the teacher’s education and experience, of course. But what about the students’ work, including their performance on standardized tests? Shouldn’t that also be considered before giving a teacher a virtually permanent job in New York State? The ban is so nonsensical that lawmakers clearly decided that the only way to get it passed was to keep it hidden deep in the budget documents.

Nobody in Albany would say who is behind this language. The driving force, however, is the powerful teachers’ union that gives lots of money and time to state campaigns. Union leaders argue that it is impossible to judge a teacher fairly by students’ performance on tests, especially since many are given in the middle of the year.

The chancellor of New York City’s schools, Joel Klein, has argued that test performance can be analyzed in a way that makes it a useful tool for comparing teachers’ performance. Also, he has said that this should be a matter for each local district to decide. For his schools, he has sensibly promised that the scores will be only one of several metrics used. The best teachers teach children how to collect information carefully and how to evaluate it critically. Before they hand out tenure, New York’s school administrators should be able to do the same.

It would be hard to find a better example of the importance of education reform philanthropists setting aside, say, 10% of their giving to the political angle of school reform -- to things like Democrats for Education Reform, All Children Matter, BAEO (Black Alliance for Educational Options), HCREO (Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options), EdVoice (California), ConnCAN (CT), Step Up for Students (FL), etc. 

 

I'd guess that the percentage is far below 1% today, which is why -- let's be honest -- the education reform agenda gets clobbered at the local, state and federal level.  If this passes in NY, the teachers unions will have kicked our butts once again -- and I'm getting really tired of it.

 

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April 9, 2008

Legislators Balk at Tying Teacher Tenure to Student Tests

By DANNY HAKIM and JEREMY W. PETERS

www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/nyregion/09albany.html

ALBANY — In the latest rebuke to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s agenda, state lawmakers have decided to bar student test scores from being considered when teacher tenure determinations are made.