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President Barack Obama announced a number of education priorities in a speech on March 11, 2009. While several of the president’s initiatives are admirable, TCTA has concerns about a handful of the proposals mentioned, including merit pay, expansion of charter schools and lengthening of the school day/year.
Excerpts of the president’s comments and TCTA's response follow:
Merit pay
OBAMA: “Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement, and asked to accept more responsibilities for lifting up their schools.”
TCTA: “Texas already has the largest merit pay plan in the nation, through the District Awards for Teacher Excellence (DATE) and Texas Educator Excellence Grant (TEEG) programs initiated by the Legislature. Although districts have some flexibility in structuring these plans at the local level, the law requires that student performance (which means test scores) be a major factor. We opposed the implementation of these programs because there has not been a scientifically valid method developed to isolate the effect the teacher has on student performance from other factors in the student’s life, such as poverty, girlfriend trouble, too many hours playing video games, etc. Though we don’t think this Obama initiative is going to mean major changes for Texas, we do think incentive pay diverts money that could be better spent to reward all teachers and raise Texas teacher pay to at least the national average teacher salary.”
Removal of bad teachers
OBAMA: “And just as we’ve given our teachers all the support they need to be successful, we need to make sure our students have the teacher they need to be successful. And that means states and school districts taking steps to move bad teachers out of the classroom.”
TCTA: “With regard to getting bad teachers out of the profession, Texas is unique – we DO NOT HAVE TENURE and it is not difficult to nonrenew the contract of a teacher who is performing poorly. Most teachers have one-year contracts that must be renewed annually.”
More charter schools
OBAMA: “I call on states to reform their charter rules, and lift caps on the number of allowable charter schools, wherever such caps are in place.”
TCTA: “We are concerned about President Obama’s suggestion that the number of charter schools should be expanded. In Texas, charter school performance – with a few exceptions – has been significantly lower than regular campus performance (according to the 2007 campus accountability ratings, 21 percent of open-enrollment charter campuses were academically unacceptable compared to 3 percent of traditional public schools). Since charter schools are publicly funded as well, we see no reason to expand a system that is, at least currently, producing inferior results.”
Longer school day/year
OBAMA: “That’s why I’m calling for us not only to expand effective after-school programs, but to rethink the school day to incorporate more time -– whether during the summer or through expanded-day programs for children who need it.”
TCTA: “We think the current school day (minimum 7 hours of instruction under current law in Texas) is all most students can handle, considering that lunchtime is not included in the length of the day, and many students participate in after-school and other extracurricular activities. Teacher days are generally much longer already, and include work at home on items like lesson plans and grading papers. Extending the length of the school year may be appropriate, especially for students who are having trouble meeting academic expectations or for those who want or need enrichment. We do think the longer school year should be offered to teachers on a voluntary basis (rather than simply assigned) and the teachers participating should be appropriately compensated.”
FINAL NOTE: “TCTA does appreciate the president’s willingness to FUND schools at a higher level, especially as expectations for student performance continue to rise, and we look forward to working with state and federal leaders to improve the education process for both children and educators. ”
Posted: 03/31/09 (from "The Classroom Teacher" Spring 2009 edition)
