Action Needed!

Delegate Assembly in Denver was energizing to say the least. Senate Bill 191 was the main focus outside of regular Assembly business. Cassie Harrelson and I went on Thursday to attend the testimony presented to the Senate Education Committee for and against SB191. Then we met with as many Senators and Representatives we could, including Senator Dan Gibbs, Senator Al White, Senator Nancy Spence (co-sponsor of the bill), Representative Merriwether, and Representative Todd. We wanted to get across the point that this bill is not funded and evaluation systems such as proposed are not cheap. We know this from experience. Eagle County's mentor/master/professional development and evaluation system costs our district $950,000/year. The time principals spend on evaluations add up to at least 6 hours per teacher and that ends up being about 1/3 of their job. Many districts don't even evaluate their teachers every year (unless probationary). And if 1/2 of an evaluation is based on student performance and growth, there are some issues. 1) 60% of all teachers are not linked directly to a test like CSAP. 2) This would turn teachers away from wanting to work with low performing students-special ed, at-risk, ELLs for fear that they would be labeled as ineffective if they were not scoring on the paper/pencil test adequately. This bill would require even Eagle County to change our system of evaluating to include pieces that will be imposed on us-currently we are working collaboratively on our evaluation system-, plus 1/2 of our score would be based on student performance on tests. Not sure how it would work with the 60% of teachers who are not directly connected to those tests, unless we add tests-which are not free to create. Those points were the first to come to mind while we were lobbying our legislators.

Thanks to Association members' hard work, the committee amended the bill by:

• changing the requirement that 50 percent of an evaluation be based on CSAP scores to a requirement that 50 percent be based on multiple measures of student growth;
• strengthening the Governor's Council on Educator Effectiveness by ensuring that no future governor could modify or eliminate it without legislative action;
• extending the timelines to allow the council to do its work;
• extending the timelines for implementation of a new evaluation system to ensure that it is done right; and
• adding checks-and-balances to ensure that any rules set by the State Board of Education go to the Legislature before they are enacted.

CEA members will hopefully continue to email and call Senators and Representatives with our Association's positions on the bill:

• Teachers want a fair, credible evaluation system and believe the current evaluation system must be improved. Teachers do not fear accountability.
• SB 191 is an irresponsible and unfunded mandate.

It is irresponsible of lawmakers to base critical changes in state law on "gifts, grants, and donations" -- the Legislature's trick for funding things for which it has no money. Legislators expect school districts to pick up the tab for new evaluation systems, but the Legislature just slashed district budgets by $260M, forcing higher class sizes, salary freezes, lay-offs, and furloughs. The bill has a cost of less than $250,000 a year to pay for three CDE staff who will support the State Board of Education in adopting rules and check to see if districts' evaluation systems meet or exceed state guidelines.

Not only will districts have to create new evaluation systems to meet state rules, the bill requires all teachers and principals to be evaluated annually, even if that's not a research-based education practice or consistent with private sector business practices where managers, unlike school principals, supervise fewer than 10 employees. Principals will have to restructure their time and workload to accommodate this level of evaluation. Districts will have to ensure that evaluations are linked to student academic growth through data systems capable of linking this information to teachers and principals. The expenses for changing the evaluation system will have to come from existing school and district budgets. SB 191 entirely ignores the ongoing resources and support districts must provide to teachers, including mentoring new teachers to help them become effective and providing professional development for all teachers and principals.

• SB 191 disciplines teachers who are evaluated as "ineffective," instead of supporting and helping them become more effective.

K-12 teachers do not have tenure. They have due process which protects them from arbitrary dismissal. Under the bill, a teacher with two consecutive years of "demonstrated ineffectiveness (based partially on student test scores and other measures of academic growth) is penalized and forced back to probationary status without access to due process. No matter when this happens in one's career, the teacher is punished and required to earn back nonprobationary status -- or could just be nonrenewed as a probationary teacher.

Teaching is a high-risk profession that requires professionals to be able to work in a supportive environment without fear. Fair evaluation and employment procedures are one important aspect of ensuring quality teachers, and fairness requires due process.

• The bill imposes state solutions to individual school district problems.

SB 191 mandates that a teacher cannot be hired or transferred to a school unless the principal consents. Lawmakers want to solve a perceived problem in Denver where schools have been closed or programs changed, forcing teachers to be involuntarily transferred. The bill requires that a teacher who is treated this way and does not get a new assignment after two years be placed on unpaid leave.

The bill requires that reductions-in-force (RIF) that occur because a district has a justifiable decrease in teaching positions must be based on teachers' "effectiveness." This interferes with collective bargaining agreements and school board policy.

CEA urges all Association members to call and email all legislators: State Senators and Representatives. Remember to include in your calls and emails your name, where you work, and that you are a constituent.

On Monday, April 26, the bill will go the Senate Appropriations Committee with 10 members: Sens. Abel Tapia (D-Pueblo), Chairperson; Chris Romer (D-Denver), Vice-chairperson; Bob Bacon (DFt. Collins); Rollie Heath (D-Boulder); Mary Hodge (D-Brighton); Moe Keller (D-Wheat Ridge); Ted Harvey (R-Highlands Ranch); Keith King (R-Colorado Springs); Mike Kopp (R-Littleton); and Al White (R-Hayden). These would be key Senators to contact NOW!

Legislator's emails and Capitol phone numbers are found in the Legislative News section of "At the Capitol."

See the latest information on the CEA Capitol Connection
http://ceacapconn.wordpress.com/