Given all the interest in the fight over education reform and teacher evaluations, I wanted to call Cola readers' attention to a Sunday editorial in the Tacoma News Tribune that came out in support of the teacher evaluation bill that passed the state senate last week.

The Tribune urges the house to pass the bill as well.



Rep. Sam Hunt

The house education committee  supported the bill 18-1 late last week after it came over from the senate. One committee member, majority floor leader Rep. Sam Hunt (D-22, Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater), a former teacher, came out against the bill.

The Tribune writes:

Senate Bill 5895, which cleared that chamber Tuesday, requires the use of objective student-performance measures in the evaluation of teachers. It also requires that feedback from teachers be used in the evaluation of principals.

Teachers and principals can lose their jobs if they keep flunking the new tests. This turns Washington tradition on its head. In this state, it can take a felony to separate a faculty member from his or her job.

Only the bravest administrators have dared tackle the convoluted, expensive process required to fire the incompetent.

Let’s not get giddy, though. The Senate’s move to tie “student growth data” looks impressive only in terms of the state’s benighted history. SB 5895 is not radical. It would not make Washington a leader in education reform. It would merely help the state catch up to the middle of the pack.

But the 46-3 vote in the Senate is impressive. Most education reform measures are throttled in committee. Once this one reached a floor vote in open daylight, lawmakers embraced it – if only to avoid shame in some cases.

The question now is whether House leaders will let the accountability requirements reach the floor or consign them to some dark corner to die.