Business & Education Leaders Endorse Heightened Teacher Performance Plan
By Cyndi Roy for the State House News Service
      Calling it the critical last component of education reform, a coalition of teachers, business leaders, and education professionals urged lawmakers Thursday to endorse a $100 million proposal to strengthen teacher training and accountability.
      The bill (H 4157), filed by Assistant House Majority Leader Rep. Lida Harkins, would establish an intensive teacher training program aimed at recruiting and retaining high achieving educators.
      Harkins told members of the Education Committee conducting a public hearing on the bill that the current system of teacher training is inadequate and varies widely across the state. Additionally, the state is expected to hire 70,000 new teachers by 2010. Nearly half of those are expected to leave the profession within five years, she said, at a cost of $50,000 per teacher in lost training and recruitment expenses.
      “There has been too much teacher bashing,” Harkins said. “This looks at teacher performance in a much more positive way.”
      The bill requires school superintendents to issue performance reviews for all teachers, principals, and administrators within the school district. The bill lays out criteria for the reviews and requires teachers to participate in professional development programs in the years no formal evaluation is required. School districts would be allowed to dismiss teachers who, after one year of intensive remediation, still rate unsatisfactory.
      The bill calls for the appointment of master teachers to serve as school leaders and mentor new teachers. Teachers said the proposal would give them the feedback and guidance they need to be most effective in the classroom.
      “Student achievement without teacher professionalism will not work,” said Xochitl Perez Castillo, a Boston special education elementary school teacher. “As teachers feel empowered to take charge of their preparation, development, and shared accountability, professionalism and leadership in our schools will be strengthened.”
      Business leaders, too, endorsed the proposal. The only way to ensure that all those involved in education are working the best they can, they said is to give them the tools they need.
      “This is about giving and accepting responsibility,” said Andre Mayer, senior vice president for the Associated Industries of Massachusetts. “We have good teachers and good schools. Now we need to create conditions under which people can do their best and give their best.”
      The proposal also focuses on institutions of higher education that educate future teachers. Under the bill, colleges and universities would be given a proficiency rating of their graduates in the first years of teaching or administration. The aggregate rating would then be made public. College heads and union leaders representing teachers said the proposal is a good balance of support and accountability.
       “Too many teachers are lost and alone,” said Kathleen Kelly, president of the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers. “I consider this the critical missing piece we need to have as part of ed reform if we are going to continue to raise the bar and do what’s right for children.”