Should School Districts be Allowed to Use Teacher Evaluations in Layoff Decisions?
Currently, when schools need to lay off teachers, seniority determines who loses their job.
When the nonpartisan House Public Information Services (HPIS) conducted its 2012 opinion poll during the State Fair, more than 9,000 people participated.
Among the issues considered was that of Minnesota school districts and layoffs.
As the pollsters were informed in the HPIS survey, currently, when schools need to lay off teachers, seniority determines who loses their job.
But, a big majority (71.9 percent) of those polled feel performance evaluations should be used. Just 20.4 percent of folks said no; and almost 8 percent of folks were undecided.
So, maybe your son or daughter is a young teacher. Perhaps you remember that talented young teacher that inspired you in your career.
Or, maybe you're of the experience-begets-wisdom mindset and you feel that being a good educator is all about perfecting the craft over years of tweaking.
Either way, let us know in the comments below.
Should school districts be allowed to use performance evaluations in making layoff decisions?
Retired E-9
9:48 am on Saturday, October 20, 2012
Absolutely, performance evaluations should be used! However, most things in life are seldom black and white, so other factors should be involved as well. Longevity, in itself,however, should not be one. It could actually be the result of poor evaluation processes in the past...or protective bias (so many possibilities here) by someone up the food chain...or fear of litigation...or so on, and so on, and so on. Also, there's always the potential that mitigating circumstances might be in play for some, so every decision should be made on a case-by-case review of pertinent factors.
There are two major objectives here. The first, unfortunately, is the fiscal reality that trimming simply cannot be avoided. The second, and by far the most important, as is evidenced by our nation's continually slipping ranking in international student competency evaluations, is to ensure that only the very, very best teachers possible populate our schools' classrooms. You do NOT achieve that by simply applying the seniority yardstick! It's an ambiguous factor that could, potentially, in some cases, mean absolutely nothing. (I'm sure we all can cite specific cases her!) For many others, of course, it has great significance...and is the reward ALREADY garnered for exceptional performance evaluations that DID NOT INCLUDE SENIORITY as a measuring device. Just my humble opinion, lol.
Pork Chop Guy
12:06 am on Sunday, October 21, 2012
Yes, Yes, Yes.
Downstream problems in any organization can usually be traced to problems upstream and the Unites States public school system is no exception. The system is flawed before the very first pupil steps into a classroom each fall. It's going to take some strong teachers to encourage the shift from seniority to performance based job protection. Until then, we will probably see our school system ratings slide, when compared to other country's.
I have no idea - what are other countrries doing that is so successful compared to us?
Steve Modica
6:08 am on Sunday, October 21, 2012
Teachers are professionals like engineers. Their jobs are nuanced and difficult to measure consistently. This is why they need to be evaluated by other professionals with similar backgrounds for the purposes of hiring, firing and advancement. Using seniority is a recipe for stagnation and failure.