[jeffkrol]

Short of diagnosing the whole situation I just want to point out what I consider a failing position:

The new law calls for student test scores to account for at least 25 percent of a teacher’s job performance rating, and Emanuel wants to increase that to 40 percent over several years.

On the outside it looks good but in the inside .. well just think about teachers in urban ghetto schools who can barely keep their students from jail, much less exceeding.. vs some teachers in affluent neighborhoods who can relatively easily "meet the criteria"...

There is nothing fair in that system........

Lewis says the evaluation system unfairly blames teachers for the poor test scores of students who are struggling with poverty, broken homes, violence and other social ills.

“There are too many factors beyond our control which will impact on how some of our students perform on those standardized tests,” Lewis said Sunday night. “. . . Poverty — which no one wants to talk about — exposure to violence . . . homelessness, hunger and other social issues beyond our control.

“Evaluate us on what we do, not the lives of our children that we do not control.”

Chicago teachers strike reverberates nationwide, in presidential race - The Washington Post

Chicago Teachers Strike Will Roll Into 2nd Day : NPR

[Ratmagiclady]

Yeah, that's not gonna work, surely not as an excuse for more budget cuts.

[glanglois]

I've seen other plans in which the standard is improvement rather than raw score for those schools. In that case, a poor-performing school gives the greatest opportunity for improvement (and needs it the most). That also may provide additional incentive for audacious teachers to transfer to those schools. If they can make a significant difference (upward) in the face of the families and neighborhoods affecting those kids, I really don't care how much more they get paid.

No opinion on Chicago - don't have the time to scope it out.

[boriscleto]

Greg Palast | Investigative Reporter

This is a true story.

CHICAGO. *In a school with some of the poorest kids in Chicago,*one English teacher–I won't use her name–who'd been cemented into the school system for over a decade, wouldn't do a damn thing to lift test scores, yet had an annual salary level of close to $70,000 a year. *Under Chicago's new rules holding teachers accountable and allowing charter schools to compete, this seniority-bloated teacher was finally fired by the principal.

In a nearby neighborhood, a charter school, part of the city system, had complete freedom to hire. *No teachers' union interference. The charter school was able to bring in an innovative English teacher with advanced degrees and a national reputation in her field - for $29,000 a year less than was paid to the fired teacher.

You've guessed it by now: *It's the same teacher.