Obama chides California for failing to evaluate teachers
U.S. President Barack Obama has singled out California for failing to use education data to distinguish poor teachers from good ones. Obama urged the state to change this situation so as to receive competitive, federal school dollars, according to the Los Angeles Times.
At stake are billions of U.S. dollars in federal stimulus funds to be allocated in “Race to the Top” grants, the paper noted.
Obama’s comments on Friday echo recent criticisms by his Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who warned that states that bar the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers, as California does, are risking those funds.
Obama and Duncan made their position clear. “This competition will not be based on politics, ideology, or the preferences of a particular interest group,” Obama said. “Instead, it will be based on the simple principle: whether a state is ready to do what works.”
“Race to the Top” applicants must show progress in four key areas to compete for the 4.35 billion dollars: adopting rigorous academic standards, recruiting and retaining talented educators, turning around chronically low-performing schools, and building data systems to track student and teacher effectiveness.
But Obama also pointed out that teachers should not be judged solely on student test scores.
You’d think that was clear enough.
It seems likely that if the president has to point out student eval isn’t the only road on the map – then that must be the target for those whose opposition to change is more important to them than the change considered.
Humbugs all.
[...] Obama and his education secretary Arne Duncan have both unveiled their ugly dedication to the horribly antiquated system of rating teachers based on test scores — a dedication so strong that California may be denied crucial dollars for their education [...]
President Obama’s Biggest Mistake on Education « The Blue Flag
July 27, 2009 at 11:23 am