NASHVILLE – House Speaker Kent Williams this morning said he is “extremely pleased” that the Bredesen administration and the Tennessee Education Association have worked out differences over what percentage student achievement data can count for in teacher tenure and annual evaluations.
“It looks like we’re ready to move now,” Speaker Williams said. “It looks like everyone’s on board now.”
He said he thinks the House can act on Friday to give final approve to changes in state law that Gov. Phil Bredesen says are necessary for Tennessee to vie successfully in the federal Race to the Top competition.
Directors of the 55,000-member Tennessee Education Association late Tuesday night approved the move, which Gov. Bredesen has said is necessary for Tennessee to have on its books as it submits its application for $485 million in federal Race to the Top funds.
TEA’s chief lobbyist, Jerry Winters, said that after “discussion and a lot of compromise on both parts we’ve reached a consensus. So if the legislaton stays together up here without any drastic changes, we’re on board with it.”
But he cautioned, “We’ve got as far as we can go in this process. I think we’ve stepped up to the plate and we’re being accountable.”
The TEA action appears to clear the main stumbling block as Gov. Bredesen pushes lawmakers in a special session on education. The Race to the Top funding. The program will award some $4 billion to states that promise to take “bold” steps in reforming K-12 education.
The TEA had agreed earlier to let value-added testing, which measures teacher impact on student progress, count for up to 35 percent in tenure decisions and annual teacher and principal evaluations.
The governor has proposed 50 percent of student achievement data be counted.
“The issue all along is what that 15 percent is going to look like,” Mr. Winters said.
Mr. Winters said details on what may comprise the other 15 percent of student achievement data will be unveiled in the form of an amendment to the main overhaul legislation later today.
“It’s multiple measures teachers can use in addition to value added (testing),” Mr. Winters said. “Our point all along was we could not overemphasize the value added issue which is one test on one day. This gives us some flexibility in that area.”