Sometime this week, the U.S. Department of Education will announce semi-finalists in a special competition.
It will be the first glimpse into what types of school reforms will catch the eye of a group of secret judges who will help the feds decide which states get a share of $4.35 billion in Race To The Top grants.
Washington is one of just 10 states to sit out the first round because Gov. Chris Gregoire and education leaders knew the state didn’t yet have in place what the Obama administration is looking for. The state is using the time to change laws and policies to make it competitive for round two.
Senate Bill 6696 includes the first-ever system for mandatory changes in failing schools. It strengthens the teacher evaluation process and adds principals to that process for the first time. It also opens up teacher preparation to programs other than the colleges of education.
The semi-finalist list could show Washington what is working while it still has time to strengthen the bill.
It could, but it probably won’t. That’s because SB 6696 isn’t the best bill the governor and the Legislature could come up with. Instead, it is the best bill they could come up with that the Washington Education Association would accept
Gregoire is unapologetic about that. She said Education Secretary Arne Duncan has urged governors to work with their teachers unions in crafting reforms. “(Duncan) was clear with us,” Gregoire said during an interview last week. “Work with the unions, get them to buy in, get them to be part of the solution and get them not to be a barrier when we go forward.
“You can say you want a stronger bill,” she said. “If I wrote it by myself it might be completely different.” But she decided to bargain with the state principals association, schools chief Randy Dorn, the state board of education and the WEA – mostly the WEA.
“So everybody in there compromised. No one got what they wanted.”
That bit of pragmatic politics has frustrated a coalition of education advocates that includes parent groups, business organizations, minority student advocates as well as math-and-science education supporters. Members of the Excellent Schools Now Coalition weren’t included in Gregoire’s negotiations, and members think SB 6696 is too weak to win Race To The Top money.
Now, Dorn and a group of 32 local superintendents, including those from the largest Puget Sound districts, agree the bill is a good first step but should be much stronger.
Two areas are the most contentious. One is the use of student performance data – mostly test scores – to evaluate teachers. Critics of the bill think the use of data is weak and that too much is subject to local union bargaining. Gregoire said no one yet has a fair way of tying test data to individual teachers, but that she hopes a system will emerge soon.
The other debate is over what happens to mid-career teachers who get poor evaluations. The bill focuses on entry-level teachers, and Gregoire argues that existing law allows districts to fire in 60 days experienced teachers ranked unsatisfactory in the current pass-fail evaluation.
A proposal by Dorn would give special attention not just to teachers who get the lowest of the four rankings called for in the bill, but those in the second-to-the-bottom slot as well. Dorn’s plan would work with those teachers for up to two years before firing them if they don’t improve.
“I’m not going to wait three years to let go a low-performing teacher,” Gregoire said, though she then acknowledged that hardly any teachers are ranked unsatisfactory under current law, and dismissals are even more rare.
She – and the union – continue to oppose changes to SB 6696. But what if this week’s news indicates the state isn’t acting boldly enough? Would she bring the players back to the table, especially the WEA, and urge changes?
“I don’t know the answer to the question,” Gregoire said. “Possibly.”
Peter Callaghan: 253-597-8657
peter.callaghan@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/politics
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