Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman speaks to the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Monday during an editorial board meeting. Huffman spent Monday visiting local teachers and principals to discuss the new teacher evaluation process.
Tennessee’s education commissioner wants the state’s lowest-performing schools to start using competition as a means for improvement.
Targeting the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools is a crucial component to the state’s application asking for reprieve from the federal No Child Left Behind law, Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman said Monday said during an editorial board meeting with the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
If the wavier is approved, the state will encourage creativity and competition among the lowest-performing schools, Huffman said. All sorts of reform efforts are on the table for these schools, he said, including differentiated teacher pay scales and lengthening the school year or school day.
He acknowledged, though, that implementing change is sometimes a tough sell in public schools.
“For some reason, differentiation is anathema in the education system,” Huffman said. “I think, broadly, people feel limited.”