“It’s not the date,” said New York City Charter School Center CEO James Merriman. “It’s the data.”
I like it James. "It's not the date. It's the data." Got a great beat and you can dance the charter/DOE tango to it. Really, James Merriman may be the funniest man in America.
The
rejection of teacher evaluation requirements also comes from a sector
that has sought greater accountability for teachers, principals and
schools. In their letter to school leaders, Merriman and Phillips said
standardized evaluation rules are not a good fit for charter schools
because the schools are held accountable in other ways.
 |
| Pubic Charter Schools are the future |
Excuse me, I have to recover from my laughing fit. James, you have to take this show on the road. Like try Washington State.
“In
traditional schools and districts, which may fail students for years
without being closed, prescriptive rules about teacher evaluation may be
the best policy available,” they wrote. “It is neither necessary nor
appropriate for charter schools.”
Of course, James. Charter schools can hire anyone off the street to teach. Why tamper with that?
At
the same time as the State Education Department is publicly pressuring
school districts to adopt new teacher evaluations by next month, it’s
also quietly demanding that charter schools turn in their teachers’
ratings from last year. Charter school advocates are
urging most school leaders to ignore the demand, even though state
officials have said it’s needed in order to fulfill its Race to the Top
plan.
The
state is not asking charters schools to adopt the same kind of
evaluation system that it wants district schools to. Instead, it wants
data from each school showing only that the school evaluate teachers on a
four-tiered system — and it wants the actual ratings for teachers, too.
Merriman
said the state’s demand is unreasonable because many charter schools
don’t necessarily evaluate their teachers based on those guidelines.
“They
are, in essence, asking charters to manufacture data that they may not
have,” Merriman said.
Sure, James. We know all about charter schools manufacturing data.
Leonie said:
Funny how the pro-charter schools
DFER, Students1st & SFER all push for our schools to have adopt this
ridiculous teacher eval system; but don’t say a peep about the fact
that the charter schools refuse to adopt it.
At
the same time as the State Education Department is publicly pressuring
school districts to adopt new teacher evaluations by next month, it’s
also quietly demanding that charter schools turn in their teachers’
ratings from last year.
Charter school advocates are
urging most school leaders to ignore the demand, even though state
officials have said it’s needed in order to fulfill its Race to the Top
plan. The advocates say the demand would be hard to fulfill and
impinges on charter schools’ vaunted autonomy.
The
standoff has its roots in the state’s 2010 application for federal Race
to the Top funds. In its application to the U.S. Department of
Education for funding, New York State said it would require schools to
rate teachers according to specific guidelines and would collect ratings
for all teachers, even in charter schools.
Some
charter schools committed to sharing their teacher ratings at the time
in order to receive some of the state’s $700 million in winnings. But
two thirds did not — and the state wants their teacher ratings too,
according to a
series of updated guidance memos that officials have issued over the last 18 months.
City and state charter school advocates have pushed back against the demands throughout that time.
“Both
the New York City Charter School Center and the New York Charter
Schools Association believe that this reporting requirement does not
properly apply to non-Race to the Top charter schools,” Charter Center
CEO James Merriman and NYCSA President Bill Phillips wrote in a strongly
worded email to school leaders last month. They added, “Ultimately, it
is up to you whether you choose to report this data.”
So
far, few school leaders have made that choice. By the original
submission deadline Nov. 30, just 30 of 184 charter schools in the state
had handed over teacher ratings from last year.
The state has extended the deadline for charter schools to Friday, but advocates say that doesn’t change the situation.“It’s not the date,” said New York City Charter School Center CEO James Merriman. “It’s the data.”
The
state is not asking charters schools to adopt the same kind of
evaluation system that it wants district schools to. Instead, it wants
data from each school showing only that the school evaluate teachers on a
four-tiered system — and it wants the actual ratings for teachers, too.
Merriman
said the state’s demand is unreasonable because many charter schools
don’t necessarily evaluate their teachers based on those guidelines.
“They
are, in essence, asking charters to manufacture data that they may not
have,” Merriman said. “That’s what’s so troubling to us.”
State
officials said they believe that charter schools can rate their
teachers with the information that they do have, as long as they have
some kind of evaluation system.
Several charter school leaders said that move is easier said than done.
“I
tried to play around with the [state’s] system, but it’s so different
from how we do ours,” said the leader of a Brooklyn charter school. “So
the data would be pointless.”
Ken Wagner, an
assistant commissioner at the department, said he expected that the
request will present challenges for charter schools and that some
first-year submissions might not be perfect. He said he would be was
less understanding if schools ignore the request entirely and refuse to
comply.
“I think we’ve been very clear on our
position and the charter folks who disagree have been very clear on
their position,” said Wagner, who could not say what the consequences
would be for schools that don’t submit ratings.
The state is even having a tough time getting teacher evaluation ratings from the
61 charter schools that are participating in Race to the Top.
Five schools in the Achievement First network that have received
roughly $275,000 through the grant program did not know they were
supposed to turn in the ratings, according to a spokesman for the
network.
“We don’t know of a request for teacher
evaluations,” said the spokesman, Mel Ochoa. “But we will continue to
work hard to fulfill any requests and requirements that come to us for
Race to the Top.”
Some schools have withdrawn from
the Race to the Top program to escape burdensome requirements like the
one about teaching ratings, sources said. In the last year, at least 19
schools have forfeited the grant money.
The
rejection of teacher evaluation requirements also comes from a sector
that has sought greater accountability for teachers, principals and
schools. In their letter to school leaders, Merriman and Phillips said
standardized evaluation rules are not a good fit for charter schools
because the schools are held accountable in other ways.
“In
traditional schools and districts, which may fail students for years
without being closed, prescriptive rules about teacher evaluation may be
the best policy available,” they wrote. “It is neither necessary nor
appropriate for charter schools.”
