Obama May Disqualify New York, California From Education Grants
The proposal, e-mailed yesterday by the Education Department, would disqualify states such as California, New York and Wisconsin from applying for the grants unless they change rules excluding student-performance data from evaluations of teachers and principals.
President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who have long pressed for merit-pay programs that reward teachers for gains in student performance, plan to announce the draft guidelines today. The nations largest teachers unions oppose linking pay to pupil achievement, saying test scores arent an accurate measure of teacher effectiveness.
While the summary didnt name any states, Duncan said last month that California, New York and Wisconsin are among states with laws that create a “firewall” between student data and teacher evaluations.
“To somehow suggest that we should not link student achievement and teacher effectiveness, its like suggesting we judge a sports team without looking at the box score,” Duncan said in a June 8 speech in Washington. “I think thats simply ridiculous.”
The National Education Association, the largest U.S. teachers union, opposes paying educators based on student test scores, Bill Raabe, NEAs director of collective bargaining and member advocacy, said in a July 2 interview.
“The idea of putting the children in the middle of the pay equation is not a good idea,” Raabe said.
Significant Factor
According to the Education Departments summary, states that apply for funds should make student performance a “significant factor” in decisions about teachers and principals compensation and tenure.
Among the other criteria for the stimulus grants are a commitment to developing common, nationwide academic standards; increasing the number of “highly effective” teachers and principals in high-poverty schools; and creating more “high quality” charter schools, according to the summary. The public has 30 days to comment.
The Education Department said it plans to disburse the competitive stimulus funds in two phases, awarding the first round of grants early next year and the second by September 2010. States that fail to win grants in the first phase may reapply for the second phase, the agency said.