Maine Takes a Giant Step Towards Eliminating Accountabaloney!

Maine just took a giant step forward towards eliminating accountabaloney!

As outlined by Peter Greene in Forbes, Maine’s legislature just passed LD 92 (also read the amendments). Read his complete article in Forbes.

“The bill removes any requirement to base teacher evaluation on test results. Maybe even more importantly, it requires districts to form a committee to regularly review and revise their evaluation process. This may seem like common sense, but teacher evaluation systems are historically taken out of the box and used without any subsequent discussion of how well they are actually working.

Maine’s law also requires that a majority of that committee be teachers. Some critics may argue that giving teachers a voice in teacher oversight is a mistake, but I’d argue that aside from parents and students, nobody has a greater interest in improving a struggling teacher than the other teachers who have to work with her.”

Will Florida follow suit? One can only hope.

When Florida passed SB736 in 2011, accountabaloney went into overdrive (read more here). SB736 was passed in response to President Obama’s “Race To The Top,” a rewrite of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind. It dramatically changed the way teachers in Florida were paid, tying teacher evaluations to test scores, eliminating step increases and placing all teachers on annual contracts, eliminating teacher job security. It could be argued that Florida’s current teacher shortage crisis can be directly related to the passage of SB736.

Repealing SB736 would be a good start towards retaining great teachers and stemming the tide of the current teacher exodus. Reversing the damage of SB736 won’t be easy. As Mr Greene says:

“When challenged on the toxic results and general ineffectiveness of test-centered accountability, testocrats often reply, “Well, then, what do you want to do instead.” That’s not a legitimate answer. If I collapse on the sidewalk and someone runs up with a chainsaw and yells, “Step aside. I’m going to cut off his legs!” I don’t need to have a better treatment to propose in order to know that sidewalk chainsaw amputation should not be happening. Every state should understand that test-centered teacher evaluation is not helpful, actually harmful, and should not be happening. Finding an alternative will not be easy, but getting rid of the toxic, ineffective, test-centered method is a necessary first step. Let the guy with the chainsaw step aside so that a real doctor can get through.”

It bears repeating: “test-centered teacher evaluation is not helpful, actually harmful, and should not be happening. Finding an alternative will not be easy, but getting rid of the toxic, ineffective, test-centered method is a necessary first step.” Repeal #SB736. Reverse the teacher exodus. Stop the accountabaloney. Let the real doctor through.