In another effort to help New York's chances at getting Race to the Top funding, the state education department and teachers' unions have proposed overturning legislature that bans teacher evaluations from being linked to test scores. With the new bill, students' standardized test scores would account for 20% of a teacher's grade, and local tests administered by each school would account for another 20%. New York State Education Commissioner David M. Steiner said in a press release, "The proposed evaluation system will help ensure that we have an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective leader in every school."
The changes, which unions have traditionally deeply opposed, will grade teachers as highly effective, effective, developing or ineffective, rather than just satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Educators are hoping this deal would make it easier for schools to fire bad teachers. Teachers rated ineffective after two years could be fired through an expedited, 60 day hearing instead of the current average of 274 days. But Steiner told the Times, "This is not a gotcha system. This is about creating professional development that can really improve education."
Unions had been criticized over their support of the previous bill and their opposition to reform. However, UFT president Michael Mulgrew said, "We worked with the State Education Department to create a more objective system that would apply across the state, with strict limits on the role of standardized tests." The previous law expires on June 1st, the same day the state must apply for the second round of Race to the Top funding.
