McDonnell’s teacher evaluation reform gains steam in legislature
A key component of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s education reform package cleared significant legislative hurdles today and appears to be on its way to passage in the General Assembly.
The House of Delegates passed legislation (House Bill 2151) that reforms teacher evaluation and grievance procedures, while a nearly indentical bill (Senate Bill 1223) sailed through the Senate Education and Health Committee without a dissenting vote.
Opposition to the bills waned after McDonnell’s administration and the Virginia Education Association reached a compromise last week over proposed changes to the teacher dismissal process. The VEA strongly resisted the administration’s efforts last year to do away with a tenure-like system for teachers, a proposal that stalled in the state Senate.
This year’s compromise legislation allows school board to extend the probationary period for a new teacher from three to five years before the teacher would become eligible for an open-ended continuing contract. The legislation also requires annual performance evaluations and allows for a teacher to be dismissed after one bad evaluation.
McDonnell has asked lawmakers to fund the state’s share of a 2 percent pay raise for teachers, but made the salary increase contingent on passage of the teacher contract reforms.
– Michael Sluss
January 24, 2013 - 5:44 PM
I would like to see our state politicians have the same type of performance review and be gone after one bad review.
Agreed!
If our politicians had to do what teachers have to do or if they had to spend time in the classroom and teach, they’d wet their pants. Politicians don’t have a clue about what goes on in our schools or what needs to be done to make our schools better. What the politicians have done is pimp our schools for cheap political gain.
Here’s the bottom line. Other countries pick and choose who they want to educate, hence their stats are better than those here in the US. Other countries have put money into education. The US, including our governor has cut, cut, cut education to where there’s nothing more to cut.
If the governor really wants to help education he needs to shut up, get out of the way and allow teachers and our schools to do our jobs.
I would like the state to go on vouchers then all the teachers would have to perform. This would keep the good teachers teaching and the bad ones would have to go. It’s all about choice on how we want our tax dollars that we pay to the state are spent. If a private school is doing a better job why is it that i can not take my tax dollars for education and spend them where the state dictates the money go. PLEASE LOOK AT VOUCHERS LIKE FL, IN AND TX.
“4.I would like the state to go on vouchers then all the teachers would have to perform. This would keep the good teachers teaching and the bad ones would have to go.”
Please draw a line here that shows some sort of connection? And there is absolutely nothing about Florida’s education system the merits emulating.
Yeah, those states are known for outstanding education! (TIC)
The reason education is poor is because of low quality teachers. Just throwing money at it will not get the job done. There should be serious evaluations on the quality of these teachers. Also, the quality of teachers should be more important than quotas based on “diversity”
Well said, Jeff!
Mr. Virginia governor has no clue of what he is talking about…
You know what–it makes me wonder if this governor know what education is all about or if he believes in democracy!!! Is this the kind of leaders we want making decisions about education? I might be wrong, but for me, he sounds like Castro in Cuba and Chavez in Venezuela. I just said and repeat, “I might be wrong!” I didn’t vote for this guy, and I’m happy I didn’t. I’ve been telling my beautiful wife and friends (who are amazing teachers) that we never know the true ideas of a so called leader until he/she has the power in his/her hand. Here, we go again–it happened with Castro and Chavez, and right now is happening with this Mr. Virginia governor. What are the similarities?
Well,this is the way I see it–the 3 of them got their ignorant contryman and woman to get them to power and then betrayed their trust…
But the sad part is that today the voice of thousand of excellent teachers are still silenced. Why? Maybe because we are yet to accept that we are the educational experts and not the governor and parents and students and everybody else in society? Since when we go into a lawyer’s office and ask that he/she be fired and his/her licensed revoked because he/she lost a case, resulting in our loved one being jailed for the rest of his/her life? How about a doctor? Do we just walk into a Dr.’s office anytime we want and asked that he/she be fired on the spot because the pills he gave us didn’t get rid of our headache right away?
Teachers, until when we are going to accept being abused by the rest of society? It’s time to stand up and tell this Virginia governor and the rest of society we are not going to accept more abuse and unfair educational policies. Not because we don’t like them, but because we beleive we are those whose expertise has been the one that has produced the best minds a state like this beautiful state called “Virginia” and a country like ours, called United States of America, has produced and will continue to produce?
Guess what? This governor knows he has no good arguments to keep pushing for unfair policies that would continue lowering our moral and destroying our motivation, creativity and the passion we have for educating every human being we are asked to educate.
With that said, I also suspect he’ll continue to do so–because that’s what “leaders” like him and Castro and Chavez do (sorry but that’s the way I see it!). First, they would camouflage their words so we all believe they speak the same language of ours–fairness, justice, equality. Then after they have gained our trust, we–who believe in fairness, justice and equality–thinking they are going continue speaking our language, agree to give them the power they asked for. And then, after they finally grab the power, reallity hits…
yep, that’s the reality Cubans and Venezuelans and Virginians are living today!
So fellow teacher out there… WAKE UP! We know we are, have been and will continue to be the experts in the educational arena. YES-that’s WHO
WE ARE!!! So let’s grab our phones and remind Mr. Virginia governor, parents, students and the rest of society so. Let’s ask them to stop blaming us for their own failures and to begin taking responsibility for their own actions, for we are TEACHERS- not society’s door mats!!!
Mr. Virginia governor,I’ll happilly accept you policy of being fired after one bad evaluation only after you ask for educational policies where parents, students and administrators are equally required to show they have done everything needed to be done to ensure the success of the students! If parents fail to show prove, then parents should loose their parenting rights and their kids should be placed in a home where only good parents live! Kids will have parents who will be at home to supervise them when they come from school. These parents will make sure these kids homework is done. They will also spend at least 20 minutes with these kids reviewing and studying what was learned in school during the day. These good parents will ask the kids to turn their cell phones off during study time, cook them healthy meals, teach them to be responsible for their own actions, including their education; supervise the kids as they use their computers and other electronic devises, make sure the kids go to early every night. Oh, these are good parents who, as they become aware of their shaky relationships, go to counseling to improve their relationships–becasue the well being of these kids are as important as their own well being…
Mr. Virginia governor, if the administrators fail to do what needs to be done to ensure these students’ success, and get the students to undertand they too have to be responsible for their learning, then the administrators should be fired and their licenses taken away fro life!!
Mr. Virginia governor, please let me know when you’re ready to push for educational policies that would make parents, students and administrators (oh, and school counselors, and doctors, et.) as equally reponsible for these students success as their teachers!!!
Sincerely,
A teacher, parent, and grandparent!!!!)