Tuesday, January 12, 2010

AFT teachers union is moving ahead of NEA in school reform

Union head to propose tying test scores, teacher evaluations
By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The president of the nation's second-largest teachers union is proposing a new way to incorporate student test scores into teacher evaluations and has asked a well-known mediator to develop methods of expediting disciplinary cases against teachers, according to the text of a speech made public Monday night.

Randi Weingarten of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers plans to deliver the speech Tuesday. Union officials describe it as a major effort to address flash points in labor-management relations.

The AFT, Weingarten said, wants "a fair, transparent and expedient process to identify and deal with ineffective teachers. But [we] know we won't have that if we don't have an evaluation system that is comprehensive and robust and really tells us who is or is not an effective teacher." ...



http://voiceofsandiego.org/education/schooled/article_e1cb0cfe-ff8f-11de-b443-001cc4c03286.html

Surprise: The American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teachers union in the country, is going to propose including students' test scores in teacher evaluations and finding ways to speed up disciplinary cases against teachers. The Washington Post and USA Today explain why this is such a big deal. Bob Herbert at The New York Times contends that the union had better follow through.

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