By Jocelyn Huber
(From The Tennessean, November 10th, 2011)
Excellent teachers and excellent education are inseparable. In fact, teacher quality is one of the most important determinants of whether a child succeeds in school and continues to college.
A handful of states have been working hard to recruit and nurture great teachers — starting with strong, effective evaluation systems. Tennessee has led the charge.
When it comes to improving public schools, ideas can only take us so far. It’s effective implementation of those ideas that yields results. Last year, the state passed bold, bipartisan legislation, the First to the Top Act, to create a rigorous teacher and principal evaluation system that has the potential to set an example for the rest of the country. The legislation was supported by the teachers’ union, the business community and a wide range of education stakeholders.
Then, the state passed legislation earlier this year linking tenure to teacher performance evaluations, further strengthening First to the Top. But now, as Tennessee begins to put the new system into place, the strength of the evaluation model is in jeopardy. Weakening the strong framework by watering it down or delaying its implementation would be a tremendous disservice to Tennessee’s children, teachers and principals.