A bill which would have changed the way schools evaluate teachers failed in the Arizona Senate yesterday. H2500 (schools; teacher evaluations; dismissals) would have also changed the definition of “inadequacy in a classroom” in determining the performance of a teacher.
The bill lost on a 14-15 vote.
According to the teachers’ union (AEA) the bill was introduced and supposed to be a “clean up” bill related to the comprehensive teacher and principal evaluation bill that was passed during the 2012 legislative session (HB2823).
The union opposed the legislation saying that “those furthest from the classroom continue to push for changes to teacher evaluation policies before school districts have had a chance to complete or test a new evaluation system. The AEA is vested in teaching as an esteemed profession and recognizes that our teachers work each and every day to do the best job they can in their classrooms. In the future the AEA hopes that legislators focus on real issues like adequately funding our schools and giving teachers the support they need to provide a quality public education for every child.”
Senator Steve Gallardo (D) , who serves as president of Cartwright School District No. 8, agreed, told the Yellow Sheet that one of the “biggest frustrations [by] local school districts is trying to keep up with the policies passed here in the Legislature.”