Jindal Compromise on Teacher Dismissals Would Compromise Integrity of Compass

Governor’s agreement with unions would undermine Louisiana’s teacher evaluation system.

On Thursday, Governor Bobby Jindal announced that a compromise had been reached with teachers unions and others to amend the teacher dismissal process established in Act 1 of 2012.

Jindal’s agreement this past week would undermine the state’s teacher evaluation system.

Passed overwhelmingly by the legislature during the 2012 Regular Session, Act 1 overhauled the state’s archaic process for dismissing ineffective teachers, established a much higher bar for teachers to earn tenure, and prohibited school districts from using seniority as the primary factor in reduction-in-force decisions. The law was strongly opposed by the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) and the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE), both of whom subsequently filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Act 1.

The Louisiana Association of Educators filed the lawsuit that led the Jindal Administration to seek a compromise.

In February, Fourth Judicial District Judge Benjamin Jones, ruling in the case brought by LAE, declared that the appeals process set forth in Act 1 for teachers facing dismissal violated their constitutional right to due process. The law provides that a teacher recommended for dismissal can appeal the decision to a three-person panel comprised of one person chosen by the district superintendent, one chosen by the teacher’s principal, and one chosen by the teacher facing termination. In his decision, Judge Jones wrote:

“It is clear that [Act 1] does not provide for a full and fair or ‘elaborate’ post-termination due process hearing before a credible, objective, independent, hearing body.”

Jones’ ruling led the Jindal Administration to seek a compromise on the issue, and over the past several weeks, representatives from Governor’s office have been meeting with officials from LFT, LAE, the Louisiana School Boards Association, and the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana to hammer out an agreement.

The terms of that agreement are included in an amendment to House Bill 987, filed by Rep. Jeff Thompson (R-Bossier City). The changes outlined are as follows:

• If a teacher appeals their termination decision, the superintendent shall randomly appoint a hearing officer from a list of designated “disciplinary hearing officers” approved by the school board.
• The disciplinary hearing officer must be a mediator qualified under present law, an arbitrator approved by the American Arbitration Association or the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an attorney, or a retired member of the judiciary.
• If a teacher is placed on administrative leave while awaiting the hearing, the teacher must be placed on leave with pay, unless charged with immorality or child abuse.

However, the most troubling aspect of the proposed agreement isn’t what was added to the appeals process, but what was taken out. The amendment filed to House Bill 987 on Thursday would delete the following language from the current statute regarding the burden-of-proof needed for dismissal:

“…the results of a teacher’s evaluation performed pursuant R.S. 17:3881 through 3905 evaluating the teacher’s performance as “ineffective” shall constitute sufficient proof of poor performance, incompetence, or willful neglect of duty and no additional documentation shall be required to substantiate such charges.”

Removing this language from the law would undermine the integrity of Compass, the statewide teacher evaluation system launched by the Louisiana Department of Education in 2012. From the very beginning, LFT and LAE have sought to roll back Compass and have claimed that the evaluations would unfairly punish effective teachers. Of course, when the the results from first round of Compass evaluations were released last spring, those dire predictions were proven false. Nevertheless, the state’s two largest teachers unions have continued to inveigh against the evaluations and have supported failed efforts in the legislature to lower the bar for teacher performance.

Leaders from the state’s two largest teachers unions have continued to inveigh against the evaluations and have supported failed efforts in the legislature to lower the bar for teacher performance.

In effect, by agreeing to remove the requirement that dismissal decisions be based on the results of Compass evaluations, the Jindal Administration is providing the unions with an opening to call the entire evaluation system into question. It would also mean that performance would no longer be the primary factor in termination decisions.

While it makes sense that teachers facing termination should have their appeal heard by an impartial third-party, when House Bill 987 comes before the House Education Committee in the coming weeks, lawmakers should retain the provision that the decision to dismiss ineffective teachers be solely based on their evaluations. After all, it doesn’t make any sense to have an evaluation system if the results of those evaluations are not taken seriously.