NEA President Urges Collaboration in Colorado.mov...
You cant transform schools without collaboration among all stakeholders, and history shows that top-down mandates are likely to fail. That was the message delivered April 22 by NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, who testified before the Colorado Senate Education Committee to voice concerns about the controversial Senate Bill 191, which would dramatically change how teachers and principals are evaluated. SB 191 would require cash-strapped school districts to spend millions on overhauling teacher and principal evaluation systems, and supporters claim that the law is necessary to help Colorado compete in round two in the federal Race to the Top grants competition. However, of the 100 points Colorado lost on its first RTTT application, only 10 dealt with teacher evaluations. Rather than hurriedly creating an expensive and flawed evaluation system, the Colorado Education Association, an NEA affiliate, has been urging legislators to allow teachers, administrators, elected officials and other stakeholders to collaborate on a system that would be functional, useful and affordable. Van Roekel echoed that recommendation. If you dont have management, the school board and employees involved in the decision making process, transformation just doesnt happen, Van Roekel told the committee as dozens of CEA members looked on. Van Roekel agreed on the need to transform public education and reaffirmed NEAs belief that the status quo is not acceptable for many students. He spoke about his ...