'Race' hurdle cleared

NASHVILLE -- One legislative critic likened it to buying a "pig in a poke," while even a supporter said he and fellow lawmakers were acting "somewhat on a wing and a prayer."

But with one eye fixed on the chance to win hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds and the other on the opportunity to make a difference in Tennessee's quality of education, state lawmakers last week approved a sweeping education overhaul.

The bill, sent by the General Assembly to Gov. Phil Bredesen late Friday, ties teachers' careers in major ways to their students' academic performance. It mandates that 50 percent of decisions about tenure as well as evaluations will be based on "student achievement data."

The governor signed the bill Saturday, senior adviser Will Pinkston said.

Requiring annual teacher evaluations and allowing teachers to get an impartial hearing officer when they appeal firings are also in the bill.

Top legislative leaders and leaders of the state's main teachers union went along with the changes, saying they have put a significant amount of trust in Gov. Bredesen, a Democrat in his last year in office, in passing the bill.

Among other things, lawmakers were unable to see details of the state's 500-page application for up to $485 million in federal Race to the Top funds. Bredesen officials feared it would tip off rival states seeking a slice of the $4 billion Race to the Top pie.

"I liken it to an economic development project," said Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, who is Senate speaker and candidate seeking to succeed Gov. Bredesen. "There is a lot of 'build it and they will come' or 'trust me' to this. But I think ... he and I have worked together closely on this, that we're all headed together in the same direction. I trust him."

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said the lack of information about the application was "awkward" but necessary.

In the House debate, some said the Bredesen plan was a little too faith-based.

"We're being asked to buy a pig in the poke and undermine teachers' job security in the process," charged Rep. Henry Fincher, D-Clarksville.

Now comes the hard part, first as a group of state workers dubbed the "mule team" works over the weekend to finish the state's application by Tuesday to meet the deadline. Then, Gov. Bredesen and officials must work on implementing all of the changes -- regardless of whether the state wins any federal funds.

In a statement Friday, the governor congratulated legislators for their action, saying the changes "will benefit the children in our schools and significantly enhance our efforts in the Race to the Top competition."

Still, "regardless of the outcome of any competition, this is the right thing to do for our children and schools," he said.

The 55,000-member Tennessee Education Association's governmental affairs director, Jerry Winters, said the group's leaders chose to put their trust in Gov. Bredesen.

"If we had to have a governor pushing this reform agenda, I'm glad he was the one doing it, because he did keep a door open," Mr. Winters said. "He did give us a seat at the table."

But TEA officials drew the line on how much testing would count. They insisted a 50 percent maximum provision be placed in the statute. Gov. Bredesen, who wanted testing to count for at least 50 percent, initially resisted putting percentages in the statute.

Evaluations deal

As passed, the legislation requires 35 percent of annual evaluations be based on the Tennessee-Value Added Assessment System. Proponents say the statistical method can gauge the impact of individual teachers on a student's gains on standardized tests.

An additional 15 percent of tenure and evaluations based on student achievement data was left up to recommendations by a yet-to-be-appointed teacher evaluation advisory panel to the State Board of Education. Professional educators will make up eight of the advisory panel's members.

During debate, some lawmakers complained there was not enough legislative oversight.

Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, a bill co-sponsor, later downplayed the "trust me" provisions in the bill.

"Like every bill that we pass, we don't manage every detail. We provide some flexibility so that the administration can put policies in place that make sense."

During committee presentations, part of the Bredesen administration's sales pitch was that there would be substantial funding of as much as $65 million over four years for teachers' professional development.

And if the state doesn't win Race to the Top funds, officials maintained that the legislation has little cost.

Sen. Berke said absent federal funding, the achievement school district for troubled schools "will continue to go forward, but obviously that extra support would arrive from the federal government."

Teacher evaluations aren't based on funding, he noted. Asked what would happen with teacher development, he said, "we're going to have to ensure that we put forth our own commitment to teacher development."

During Finance Committee deliberations, Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, questioned whether school personnel really could get teacher annual evaluations without adding substantial new staff. The senator said there are 2,836 teachers in Hamilton County.

"If my math is correct, using 20 minutes as the average evaluation time, that would come down to about 1.6 days per school," he said. Twenty minutes is actually a short time for an evaluation, he said.

Sen. Watson nonetheless supports the legislation.

"I'm not looking at this from the federal dollars perspective," he said. "I think that is short-sighted. Regardless of whether we get the federal dollars or not, the question is whether these are good measures, and I think by and large they are."

The bill was passed during a special session on education that Gov. Bredesen called in order for lawmakers to make changes in time to meet the Tuesday federal deadline. Lawmakers return to Nashville on Tuesday to consider higher education reforms, but many leaders think they can be handled in the regular session.