Parents, state go head-to-head on teacher evaluations

Washington is the only state in the union that doesn’t receive federal funding from the No Child Left Behind Act.

And to combat that – to get at least some of the money we’re losing federally – lawmakers in Olympia are considering a bill that would require school districts to consider student test scores as a factor in teacher evaluations.

This parent says that money does a lot of good for the kids who don’t fit the mold of the average student.

“We tend to forget why evals and NCLB and testing and accountabilities were needed. Kids were getting lost. Kids still get and how many kids get lost this year?,” a parent told KING 5.

But, as it turns out, the teachers union doesn’t like the idea of testing. Donning stickers that read “It’s time to teach more, test less”, the union organized teachers to show up to speak out against the bill.

And there even was a kid used to push their position.

“A girl in my class did not know what 9×1 was and that was not my teacher’s fault. It was not my teacher’s fault kids in my class don’t do their homework. The parents of that kid should tell them to do their homework,” a third grader told KING 5.

You see, I don’t necessarily like kids, and their cuteness and innocence is lost on me – I’m immune to it.

If you don’t know what nine times one is, then yes, it’s the fault of the teacher in 99 percent of the case.

The teacher’s union doesn’t like this because they don’t want to be judged. Anything that challenges their results in the classrooms is met with significant push back from the union. Some teachers will rightfully point out that if you have a large number of non-English speaking kids in your class, or perhaps you teach students living with some developmental disabilities, it’s not fair to judge based on tests.

Fair enough. But the union isn’t arguing Washington should come up with testing that takes those factors into account. They’re saying no to tests, period.

When you get into certain union positions (though not by any means all union positions), there can be no incentive to keep up hard, meaningful work. You’re essentially paying a lobbying group to keep you employed at all means necessary and part of that is to keep you from being judged as an incompetent teacher. The job security this offers you is pretty significant, so you’re willing to cough up a portion of your paycheck to the union to help keep your job secure.

Now, as an employee that sounds amazing: this idea that you can virtually never be fired. I know some of you out there might be saying that would be nice to have.

But while it’s nice to have it doesn’t necessarily mean the kids are getting treated with the respect and importance that is necessary.

There are certain things standardized tests are really good for – basics, particularly in Math and reading comprehension. Those are things that are universally taught. I’ll have the conversation about the overall importance of standardized tests because they’re certainly not a cure all, but yes, they can gauge whether or not a teacher is doing his or her job.

And if you’re scared of having a kid take a test where he or she is asked what 9×1 is? Well, then you’re likely not a good teacher.