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M. Spencer Green / AP
Parents of Chicago public school students, Carmen Brownlee, left, and, Latonya Williams, right, walk a picket line outside Shoop Elementary School in support of striking CPS teachers, Sept. 11, 2012.
With negotiators trying to hammer out an agreement that would end Chicago’s teachers strike, one of the key sticking points is how to evaluate whether a teacher is doing a good job, an issue that has riled school boards across the U.S. in recent years.
Chicago’s school leaders are proposing that student performance on standardized tests count toward 25 percent of a teacher’s assessment, growing to 40 percent in five years, according to NBCChicago.com.
But Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis is critical of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s push to make great use of standardized tests in teacher reviews, calling the process flawed. Union officials say the system wouldn’t do enough to take into account outside factors such as poverty, crime and homelessness.
"Evaluate us on what we do, not the lives of our children we do not control," Lewis said in announcing the strike. It was unclear what union officials proposed instead.
The battle in Chicago over using student test scores to judge teachers is just one front in a nationwide battle over how to make sure teachers are doing a good job, and that taxpayer dollars and student time aren’t going to waste.
"This is going to become a long-term battle that everyone's watching very closely," said Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow in education at the Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, a conservative research center. "Teacher unions are at a crossroads: Are they going to participate in designing better teacher evaluations or resist and not change anything. The Chicago union seems to be taking the resist option, drawing their line in the sand."
The Chicago Teachers Union and the city's public school district returned to the negotiating table Tuesday as thousands of teachers walked the picket lines for a second day in a strike that affected more than 350,000 students. NBC's Rehema Ellis reports.
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The Obama administration, through its $4 billion Race to the Top competition and waivers from the Bush-era No Child Left Behind, has urged states to change teacher assessments to make use of test data as a key component to set a teacher's pay or end their employment. The administration granted waivers to states that promised to show improvements in student and school performance and link teacher evaluations to student test scores.
Supporters say current review tools fail to give administrators a reliable assessment of a teacher's effectiveness, while critics argue there's no evidence linking student performance to a teacher's worth.
"Teacher evaluations should be based on multiple measures," said Marcus Mrowka, a spokesman for the American Federation of Teachers, which has 1.5 million members. "Testing has a role but should not sanction teachers but inform instruction."
Twenty-four states now require teacher evaluations based on some measure of student growth, according to an analysis by the National Council on Teacher Quality, a research and policy group. Public school districts in Tennessee and Washington, D.C., recently implemented new teacher evaluations tying outcomes to merit raises, while Colorado and New York are deep in the process of developing an evaluation system, the council noted.
In the past three years, at least 20 state legislatures have passed bills setting up new teacher evaluation processes, according to the council. Illinois joined the ranks last year when its legislature passed a law mandating new teacher evaluations, with Chicago’s leaders rushing to embrace the system, called the Performance Evaluation Review Act.
“The evaluation system should be built around continuing improvement of instruction,” said Rob Weil, AFT’s director of field programs and educational issues in Washington, D.C. “Evaluations should help people improve and we need to build systems that give teachers the information they need so they can improve. The process should not be punitive.”
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In Chicago, Lewis has warned that as many as 6,000 teachers could lose their jobs under the new evaluation system. The union represents about 25,000 teachers and staff, who walked off the job Monday.
School officials say they do not know how union leaders determined that number, and telephone calls by NBC News to union headquarters went unanswered Tuesday.
Emanuel has promised that teachers would not be fired in the first year of the evaluation process.
Union leaders, however, are still resisting.
“This is no way to measure the effectiveness of an educator,” said the union in a statement. “Further there are too many factors beyond our control which impact how well some students perform on standardized tests such as poverty, exposure to violence, homelessness, hunger and other social issues beyond our control.”
About 60 percent of students in Chicago public schools complete high school, according to the Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.
“We are spending more and more on students, throwing more and more money into the system,” said Ted Dabrowski, vice president of the Illinois Policy Institute. “If you want the best teachers in the system, then teachers should be paid and promoted based on their performance. It’s important that we improve the system, which has become a failed system.”
Do you have an education-related story? Contact Sevil Omer at sevil.omer@msnbc.com
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I just don't understand how paying a teacher more and not having evaluations to the teacher will make parents/guardians that do not care now care then? If a teacher is paid more & has no evaluation (incentive to their best) will the gangs just step off? Do these teachers on strike hae a license/certificate to teach in all of IL or just Chicago? If it's so dang bad they had all summer to look for teaching posisitions elsewhere or to get out and try an entirely new carreer.
Ah, but the Chicago salaries are much higher than other cities in Illinois
But the cost of living is higher too, making it a wash. I bet it's the night life..LOL
Shouldn't the public, vi a their elected officials, be allowed to determine how those that work for them are evaluated, not teachers via strikes and contract negotiations. And shouldn't the outcome of their work be measured by what students have learned, rather than how teachers feel about how they taught the kids.
BTW, what is the status of the salary portion of the negotiations? Did Rahm cave into their ridiculous demands or did he stick to his ridiculous offer?
The timing of this strike couldn't be worse...for the DNC...not the children or the parents of Chicago. The NEA pours tens of millions of dollars of union dues into the Democrat's coffers every year. Teachers on strike, that means fewer dues and less revenue for the DNC. Here's your teachable moment, free of charge.
Chicago teachers average $76,000 (the highest in the US) , 85% of 4th graders can't read. Think of that...........a 10 year old that can't read. And the numbers don't get much better as you get into the 8th grade. These teachers don't need to be evaluated..........with these statistics they should be fired. If not fired they should be given a standard H.S. proficiency test and those that can't pass are terminated.which would eliminate most of them.
They are demanding a 35% wage increase over two years. That means they want the average wage increased to $102,000. And guess where 38% of these teachers send their kids to school..........you guessed it.....private schools. I guess that's why they need more money.
Teacher unions have destroyed teachers.
Come on you liberal union lovers........justify this @!$%#.
You ever been to the South Side...I'm surprised that 15% of 4th graders actually know what a book is, let alone read it...
Looks like South side Ole Chicago...So Tyrell doesnt do that well on tests, but he brings home $400 a day from selling crack in the school yard...
History teach - How many teachers will get wiped out of the system that were put in it by afformative action?
Another issue - are we really testing the teachers at a proper level.
Who's in charge of coming up with the arbitrary number? How about me? I say we make teachers work for about 40k/yr. Also, let's get rid of the top payed teachers, say 50%of them. Get rid of the union too. Actually, maybe they should all have to bid on their positions, job goes to the lowest bidder. I'm so sick of whining teachers, maybe all kids should be home schooled.
That's not any better than paying everyone because you can't fire them.
My husband gets evaluated every year as a teacher. I say, bring on the merit raises and do away with across the board salary increases just for breathing
Unless you have taught students, one should withhold judgment. A good teacher can teach about 18 to 20 students. If we really want a good education, this is where we need to place our focus. Teacher aides? That doesn't work effectively for class size reduction. Holding a teacher in an urban school district accountable for students passing tests? That ignores the high turnover rate within a classroom in a school year(as high as 50% in some districts), it ignores students with English as a second language challenges(how many other languages are spoken by Chicago students?; that number would shock most readers). Teachers know what we need to be effective; those needs don't seem to matter. Try teaching the state's history, with no map of the state to be found in the middle school. Try preparing lessons; when the library in the school locked 2 days a week because the librarian covers 3 schools in one week. Go ahead; try to stand in a classroom and move all students through a math lesson.
Go ahead; you try. Then, tell me that you are willing to base your own family's existence on having your students pass a test.
You are absolutely correct. Sorry to see you leave the profession for something more relaxing at IHOP.
My husband prepares most of his lesson plans at home on our home computer. He also has dished money out of pocket for stuff he needs in class but can't get through the school. Maybe not fair to him - but he does it because he is motivated.
You should see his chemistry classroom. He has decorated it with all kinds of eclectic memorabilia. He has a fabulous, energetic personality. Kids fight to get into his chemistry or physics classes and he works in a low income town.
Bring on the merit raises.
That's awesome! I remeber as a kid our neighbor lady taught school. She, her daughter and I would make & cut out all kinds of decorations and go scrub the class room every year before the 1st day of school. We also did a monthly theme decor for her. We went to the local paper supply store and a left over craft store to buy school supplies-well she bought-we picked out LOL. I'm glad to see some teachers still have heart, like your husband.
Let's just"Dumb-Down" the school requirements.... Oh wait, you can't get any lower --- Just what Obama is encouraging ---
Obama wants everyone to live in a trailer, drive a Kia, and pay their mandatory ObamaCare Premium with a credit card. Sorry, I am not buying into his 'system' ---- It all starts with education.... Stupid is as stupid does -
Looks like the NEA can't help this time because no one is sympathetic to your temper tantrams ---
You're confused. It was Romney who wanted us all to drive Japanese cars, except for him of course. He drives German cars. The "Cadillacs" are for show.
sam,
What? WHAT!?!?! What are you babbling about? This is about education and how it is NOT working. You should be outraged at the education you received since it is obvious, via your post, that you cannot focus on a subject and make related comments.
Go find and punish your failed teachers.
Can we get standardized testing for our congress, please.
We should start at the top and review the Commander-in-Chief's transcripts....
Shouldn't be a sticking point. The teachers have now been evaluated and there are 26,000 job openings as a result.
Any "evaluation" would have to be based on an average over a period of time, like 5 years.
My wife is a teacher. As she says, "A class is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get."
Last year, she had 6 fifth graders that were supposed to be in middle school. It's a low income school, with lots of kids with problems. Will that be factored into the "evaluation"?
My job can be evaluated fairly each year. That's harder to do with teachers. My wife teaches science. If the 4th grade teachers didn't prepare them for 5th grade science, will my wife receive a bad "evaluation"?
If one kid's father comes to school and curses my wife in front of the kid, does his "bad evaluation" get the same weight as everyone else's?
I know this will confuse the "simple solutions to all complex problems", "bumper sticker politics" crowd, but reality is not so simple.
Is that how they do it at your job?
It would be the principal that would have the evaluation not the parents. Each year when I was a teacher a test was given to determine the performance of the children entering that year. And an evaluation from that test later in the year can determine. The main problem with teaching these days is that the teachers union has too much say in the hiring and firing process . The PRINCIPAL should make all decisons on what goes on in the school
oppie- How about Obama - (pushed through college?) Where are those college records?
Its simple... Give them 48 hours to get their a$$es back to work, and if they refuse. You're fired!! And start fillling possitions with non-union teachers who care more about the job at hand, than the job handing them more than they deserve!
These teachers want us to believe its all about the kids ...Sure, until it's time to negotiate a new contract then they leave the kids on the street and parents scrambling on where to place the ones that aren't old enough to be left alone. How Very Caring Of You!!!!
Just where do these union thugs think their Salary comes from? .....When you work for the taxpayers, you have no right to unionize.
They have already had 48 hours. There are now 26,000 job openings and they need to start filling them.
Firewoman,
Hey, it worked for Reagan. I like it.
Only the dumbest people cannot understand that states, city's and towns are broke!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unions will have no clout in the future!! Millions of unemployed people would give their right arm for that job! Go back to work and accept the new reality!!
Illinois is bancrupt. It has more debt than any other state in the country. I guess the teachers there don't read the paper!! Morons.
Obama'a new Slogan:
NO DUMMIES LEFT BEHIND !!!
$62,000 in 2009. $76,000 in 2012. My last (private sector employed) raise was 2008. Greedy people.
Just because the private sector is screwing you, doesn't make teachers greedy.
No, the unions do.
@sam - Not being screwed by my employer. The current economic conditions and the current tax structure are to blame. The belief that the economy is some fixed pie, that there's only just so much money in America, it's fixed, and that the job of the government is to redistribute the slices of the pie is inaccurate, and actually not true. The job of the government is to set the conditions for economic growth so we can grow the pie and everybody can get a bigger slice of the American pie through economic growth, through opportunity, through achievement and upward mobility. That's where prosperity comes from. Our current government has not, or will not, set these conditions.
There are children around the world begging to have an education, girls who are killed or have acid thrown on them for daring to ask to be educated. They travel long distances on foot to attend schools that have dirt floors. These same countries send Olympians to the 2012 Games that have to remove weeds and rocks from their dirt track just to practice. We are the world's richest country and we have students that could care less about having an education and teachers some of whom don't want to be judged for their poor performance. I do know that it does go both ways and there are GOOD teachers in bad schools that will never be able to improve the grades of children who don't want to participate in their own education. So what do we do, just continue to go down this same road, paying teacher more and more on faith and in the name of being politically correct, not holding those teachers that show up just for a paycheck accountable? We know it's not easy otherwise the problem would be fixed by now. It seems the easy road is to just not evaluate teachers and keep putting poor uneducated humans into the world while other countries who take pride in being educated pass us up in every sector. Is that what the Teachers of Chicago are asking?
If my wife gets a good "evaluation", will the state start paying for her supplies? I'm tired of paying for science experiments.
I'm always buying "soil", or "ten boxes of the cereal with iron shavings", or "150 plastic cups" or extra notebooks, binders and other school supplies that I shouldn't have to pay for.
My wife got her Masters degree in science education. She got a 2500.00 raise. It will take us 4 years just to break even.
Shouldn't. There are 26,000 good paying teaching positions open in Chicago.
Ask your wife if that Masters Degree has had ANY affect on her teaching ability? Just one more red herring the unions used to "up" the teacher salaries.
Merit raises. Let the cream float to the top just like in the private sector.
Some teachers can motivate, some can't. Offer an incentive to teachers who CAN motivate students in the inner cities. Just dont expect the excellent teachers to willingly accept the same paycheck as the slackers in a challenging inner city environment.
In the unions, what is floating on top isn't cream.
Whenever they needed supplies at my son's schools they just sent a request asking the parents for the money.
What do you want to bet these "parents" in the picture were paid to "support" the union strike.
Why is it I keep reading about the $76k/year teachers whining about a raise, more benefits, no accountability, and a 60% failure rate and these windows of "Diner with Barack" keep opening next to it?
The teachers in the wealthier suburban schools will make all the money because their test scores will always be higher.
OK. The teachers should be held accountable, but how about the parents? The Prez wants to impose a fine if you don't buy health insurance. I say fine the parents if their kids door poorly on the tests!
I believe everyone should be accountable for their performance regardless of what profession they are in. Granted, teachers do not have an easy job but couldn't they come up with some sort of review that factors in a curve for economically disadvantaged areas. It doesn't seem like rocket science. My first thought was that the teacher's union officials are just flexing their muscles for the new mayor because he extended the school day and considering that we had one of the shortest school days in the country, that was probably a good idea. I don't have any answers, but agree that the teachers didn't need to walkout. They could have opened the schools while negotiations continued.
My dad was a union man and I work for a union company and we are both proud of it. There are slugs and cheaters in both union and non-union workplaces.