MINNEAPOLIS, MN - The debate over new evaluation guidelines continues to intensify after three days of negotiations between the Education Department and the state's largest teachers union. The proposed guidelines are under fire from teachers over the increased emphasis on student performance and the diminished influence of tenure. Union representatives say teachers should not be penalized for having low quality students.
"You wouldn't ask a brain surgeon to operate with a butter knife." said Clinton Ogelsby, lead negotiator for Minnesota Teachers United. "We think the State should provide our teachers with the best tools possible if they expect results. And the most important tools in a successful class environment are intelligent students."
Ogelsby notes that nearly half of the current students score below average on standardized tests, and that students entering the school system for the first time have little or no formal education. "It's clearly not a formula for success." he says.
Education Department officials admit that a problem exists, but say they have little funding for education outside the school system. "We wish we could select the brightest students, but we have to take the ones that show up." said Gilbert Finnigan, Assistant Secretary of the Education Department. "Even after twelve years, a lot of them just don't show much improvement."
One proposed compromise takes note of the higher test scores posted by home-schooled students. "We may require parents to home-school their children in addition to sending them to public school." said Finnegan. "That would give our teachers the ability to increase their performance immensely."
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