A new player in teacher talks

A new organization representing minority, education and faith-based groups called Vibrant Schools Tacoma Coalition says it wants to ensure a community voice is heard when Tacoma teachers and the school district open contract negotiations in May.

The coalition on Thursday presented the results of a survey of 501 registered voters in the Tacoma School District that asked about public support for education reforms the coalition supports, including changes in how teachers are evaluated, paid and supported.

“We know we don’t get to sit at the table (during contract negotiations),” said Cheryl Jones, a coalition member who is also part of the Black Education Strategy Roundtable and Allen Renaissance on Tacoma’s Hilltop. But she said coalition members believe teachers hold the key to improving achievement, especially for minority students.

“We want our teachers to be great teachers,” Jones said. “The only way to look at that is by evaluating them.”

Miguel Blanco of the Pierce County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said the coalition is an attempt to “bring community voices into parts of the collective bargaining agreement that impact student learning.”

A similar effort took place at the start of teacher contract negotiations last year in Seattle, where a group called Our Schools Coalition put forward a nine-part platform urging reforms in the contract, including factoring growth in student test scores into teacher evaluations.

Teacher evaluation has been a sticking point between unions and school districts across the country. One statistical method that incorporates student test scores into teacher performance measures is known as the value-added method. It looks at whether teachers are able to improve student scores over time.

Teacher unions often oppose value-added evaluation, saying it’s inaccurate and unfair to teachers who work in struggling schools. But the method has garnered support from education officials in other states.

In Tennessee, for example, a new teacher evaluation system will kick in this fall that will calculate 35 percent of a teacher’s evaluation using the value-added system, 15 percent from other school data and 50 percent from multiple classroom evaluations.

In Washington state, legislation passed last year requires school districts to adopt new evaluation systems by 2013. Selected school districts are now piloting new forms of teacher evaluations. The superintendent of public instruction will choose a model to recommend to the Legislature.

Andy Coons, president of the Tacoma Education Association – the union which represents an estimated 1,500 classroom teachers and more than 500 other school employees – said teachers want to make sure that however evaluations are done, they look the same throughout the school district.

“We want to make sure our system is fair,” he said.

The contract ratified last fall in Seattle says that student test scores will play a part in teacher evaluations. But not all Seattle teachers will participate immediately because standardized tests aren’t given in all subjects. The system will be phased in over several years, and teachers that don’t help improve student scores will be offered added support.

Jones said that while Vibrant Schools Tacoma isn’t trying to precisely model the Seattle effort, “they are definitely trailblazers for what we are doing.”

In addition to looking at how teacher performance is measured, Vibrant Schools Tacoma also wants to ensure teachers get mentoring, support and training on how to work best with children who live in poverty and who come from diverse cultures. It also wants to ensure that teachers who take on the toughest assignments with the most challenging schools and students are paid more.

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635 debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com

Vibrant Schools Tacoma members

Allen Renaissance

Asia Pacific Cultural Center

Asian Pacific-Islander Coalition of Pierce County

Black Education Strategy Roundtable

Cambodia Women Network Association

Cross Cultural Collaborative of Pierce County

Korean American Association of Tacoma

League of Education Voters

Manumalo Community Development Council

Multicultural Self-Sufficiency Movement

NAACP Education Committee – Tacoma Branch

Northwest Leadership Foundation

Partnership for Learning

Peace Community Center

Pierce County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Practical Solutions

Samoa Nurses of Washington

Stand for Children – Tacoma

Tacoma-Pierce County Black Collective

More information: www. vibrantschoolstacoma.org Vibrant Schools Tacoma Survey

Here are selected questions and poll results from a survey of 501 registered voters in the Tacoma School District. (Numbers don’t always add up to 100% due to rounding.)

Tacoma should use teacher evaluations, student performance and other factors to keep and reward good teachers and remove chronically under performing ones.

Support: 86%

Oppose: 9%

Don’t Know: 4%

We should use a variety of ways to evaluate teachers, like assessments from other teachers, student performance and parent feedback to identify our best and help all improve.

Support: 85%

Oppose: 12%

Don’t Know: 3%

We should pay more to teachers willing to take on tougher assignments.

Support: 81%

Oppose: 13%

Don’t Know: 6%

Seniority is the primary factor for a range of decisions about teachers, including layoffs. That means teachers who have been around longer would keep their jobs even if they aren’t as good. Evaluations should be the primary factor so we keep the best based on performance.

Support: 80%

Oppose: 15%

Don’t Know: 4%

Source: Vibrant Schools Tacoma/EMC Research