Schwarzenegger signs bill "teacher evaluation tied to student test scores," Is it time to look for a job at a high performing school?

Today Governor Schwarzenegger cheerfully signed into law the ability for districts to evaluate teachers based on how well their students do on standardized tests.

No one worries that these tests were not created to measure teachers.
No one worries that teachers with students from wealthy backgrounds will have better performing students and consequently better evaluations and better pay.

The evil Arne Duncan, Obama education secretary, who has NEVER taught in a school classroom is especially delighted with this new attack on teachers.

latimes.com/news/local/la-me-education-firewall14-2009oct14,0,3475835.story

latimes.com

Governor praised for signing education funding eligibility bill

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calls the bill, which eliminates a ban on using test data to determine educator pay or promotions, 'a victory for children.'
By Jason Song and Jason Felch
October 14, 2009

The nation's top education official praised Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday for signing a bill that will make California eligible for competitive federal education funding.

Schwarzenegger signed the bill, SB 19 by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), on Sunday, striking a clause in a 2006 law Simitian wrote that bars state use of testing data to determine educator pay or promotion.

"This is a victory for children," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Obama administration officials have said that states applying for $4.35 billion in education funding can have no "firewalls" between student achievement data and teachers.

Schwarzenegger and others emphasized that the bill does not guarantee the state any federal funding and urged legislators to approve other legislation, including repealing the state's charter school cap, to give California a better chance to get education dollars.

Federal officials have emphasized that the funding program, known as Race to the Top, is competitive and that only a few states will get funding.

Race to the Top funding will be awarded in two stages and it is unclear if California legislators will finish their work in time to meet the first deadline.

Federal officials have not finalized the deadline but expect that it will be sometime this winter.

States that apply but do not receive funding during the first round will get a detailed response from the federal government and can try again.

jason.song@latimes.com

jason.felch@latimes.com