Colorado teachers, principals, superintendents and even the president of the nation’s largest labor union offered testimony for more than five hours Thursday on a controversial teacher reform bill.
“This is a massive change,” said Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder. “I don’t think any of us can understate what a change this is.”
Lines were clearly drawn in the Senate Education Committee’s hearing on Senate Bill 191, which would tie teacher evaluation to student academic growth and change how teachers obtain and keep tenure.
Dennis Van Roekel, president of the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, voiced his displeasure about an evaluation system that focuses on standardized tests.
The bill calls for 50 percent of an annual evaluation for teachers and principals to be tied to student academic growth on assessments.
“You cannot measure all of the students’ indicators of growth and learning by a paper-and-pencil test,” Van Roekel said.
It was a refrain repeated by local union presidents from Jefferson County and Denver public schools as well as a number of teachers — including Jenny Campbell, a Cherry Creek special-education teacher.
“My students view the world differently and show us that not every child should be molded to fit a standard one-size-fits-all test score,” she said. “Never mind their learning discrepancies, their unstable home lives, their prior learning experiences, their family’s economic status, their medical needs or their behavioral and emotional state.
“In the spring, they are all assessed with one measure. And if they don’t fit, I fail,” she said.
Supporters of the bill included superintendents, business members, former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, teachers, principals and students.
Harrison School District Superintendent Mike Miles called the bill a paradigm shift.
Aurora Public Schools Superintendent John Barry — who signed a letter of support along with 22 other Denver-area superintendents — said evaluation and tenure must be linked.
“You cannot divorce these two strategic principles,” he said. “Evaluation and tenure change must occur together. They are like the motor and the pulley.”
Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, continually grilled supporters on costs that may hit districts and questioned whether tenure changes are really a way to easily fire teachers.
“Do you blame the dental hygienist when the patient fails to brush his teeth?” she asked Peña.
Hudak asked why Jane Urschel, deputy executive director of the Colorado Association of School Boards, supported this bill that may cost districts money to create assessments when she hasn’t supported previous bills that were unfunded mandates.
Urschel said this bill creates a systemic change.
“With this bill we have a chance to build a new system to professionalize the practice of teaching and educating,” she said. “You heard from superintendents that this is not a question of resources. It’s using resources differently and using time differently.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
