Missouri voters to consider teacher tenure, evaluations in November : News

Missouri voters to consider teacher tenure, evaluations in November : News



JEFFERSON CITY • A ballot initiative to weaken tenure and tie teacher evaluations to student performance has enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.
Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander announced Tuesday that supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment had been successful in their effort to put the issue before voters this fall.
The measure has support from wealthy investor Rex Sinquefield, who is financing the group behind the initiative. It’s being opposed by teachers unions and public school organizations, which so far have raised $600,000 to fight it.
The measure would require more than half of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on student academic outcomes, and it would allow districts to set a teacher’s pay based on how well his or her students perform. It would give districts more control over the terms of their contracts with teachers — allowing administrators to dismiss staff more easily. It would also prohibit districts from entering into contracts with certified staff that exceed three years.
Such a change would allow districts to reward good teachers and get rid of bad ones, said Kate Casas, spokeswoman for Teach Great, the organization pushing for the amendment.
“School districts’ hands are really tied when it comes to making layoff decisions,” Casas said. “They don’t have objective data on student growth in every classroom.”
Opponents argue that the measure would lead to more standardized testing. They say it could cost Missouri hundreds of millions of dollars to develop the assessments for grade levels and subjects not covered by current tests, such as symphonic band, foreign languages and first-grade math.
This fall, districts across the state are starting teacher evaluations that are based in some part on how much students are learning in the classroom. But it is up to each district to determine what measures to use and how much weight to give that component.
The Missouri National Education Association wants to keep it that way. The ballot measure would require districts to adopt an evaluation system “approved by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,” which opponents argue would erode local control.
“What you’re saying is politicians in Jefferson City are going to control what you do in your district,” said Ann Jarrett, teaching and learning director of the Missouri NEA. “We have big concerns about that.”
The union’s concerns are so big that it contributed $500,000 toward the effort to fight the measure, according to campaign finance reports.
In June, two teachers from the Francis Howell School District filed a legal challenge to the ballot initiative. They’re arguing that it’s unconstitutional because it would alter two parts of the constitution — one concerning education and the other collective bargaining.
The proposal will appear on the ballot as Constitutional Amendment 3.

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