We Must Go Further With the New Teacher Evaluation System
By Benjamin Ulysses Cashton
New York State has done well to implement the new teacher evaluation system. By changing the two-tiered rating system of “Satisfactory” and “Unsatisfactory” to the four-tiered system of “Highly Effective,” “Effective,” “Developing,” and “Ineffective,” the state is finally holding teachers accountable to quantifiable results. Teachers are now given a total number score for their end-of-year rating that ranges from 0 to 100. This will encourage teachers to constantly compare their ratings with those of their colleagues and thus improve their teaching practice, as it is an economic fact that greater competition equals greater productivity.
That being said, New York has not gone far enough with holding teachers accountable. School districts still protect incompetent teachers. So I propose adding a fifth tier to the rating system: the “Highly Ineffective” tier. Teachers rated “Highly Ineffective” will have one week to pack up their bags and find a new profession. They will get no two years probation to improve their teaching. They will get no independent observer to evaluate their progress. They are undeserving of this.
Another added benefit of adding a fifth tier is that politicians can easily identify and label the worst teachers. Then they can use these teachers as scapegoats to further their political careers, thereby contributing to the cause of true democracy.
If the people of New York really care about our nation’s future, then they will also support a sixth tier to the rating system: the “Developing into Highly Ineffective” tier. Teachers labeled “Developing into Highly Ineffective” will primarily be those older teachers who have become too cynical to continue in their profession and will be given one year before they are pushed out. This will immensely benefit the state’s educational system as these teachers’ undeserved six-figure salaries will be freed so that school districts can finally spend government monies on what really matters in a student’s education: more standardized testing.
Of course these seriously considered proposals will be attacked and shot down by the teachers’ unions whose only function is to protect incompetent teachers. But if we the people of New York State really care about our nation’s future, then we will rally for the rights and education of our children and destroy the undue influence that unions have in our country. The state is beginning to go in the right direction, but we must do more. Establishing the six-tier evaluation system of “Highly Effective,” “Effective,” “Developing,” “Ineffective,” “Developing into Highly Ineffective,” and “Highly Ineffective” will tremendously improve the educational system in New York. It will help our students become more competitive internationally and therefore will be a system we can sincerely be proud of.
Satirist: Thomas Ragazzi