Here in Ohio, where the state has avoided even some of the least controversial reforms related to teacher evaluation and pay, Emmy and I have noted plenty of other districts and states taking bold action. ?We wrote an op-ed about this very topic, highlighting four such examples: D.C. public schools (with their new and much-talked-about teacher contract, voluntary merit-pay component, and reduction in seniority-based layoffs); Harrison School District 2 in Colorado (a complete overhaul of the teacher evaluation and salary system); Colorado (state legislation that requires both teachers and principals to be measured by student performance, and which allows for the removal of teachers' tenure status); and New York state (a new teacher evaluation system in which student progress makes up 40 percent). In the Columbus Dispatch, we also noted:
What's impressive is that such reforms are accumulating bipartisan support. People on both sides of the aisle realize that it's common sense to rethink antiquated systems that protect teachers' seniority above classroom effectiveness and that tie hiring, professional development, compensation and dismissal of teachers to factors unrelated to student achievement. With hundreds and possibly thousands of teacher layoffs sweeping the state, Ohio simply can't afford to sit on the sidelines for this one.
Read it here.
- Jamie Davies O'Leary and Emmy Partin
