Support changes for teacher evaluation

Recent National Assessment for Educational Performance statistics show Iowa is no longer at the top in public education and is moving in the wrong direction. The report shows only one-third of Iowa's elementary and middle school students were deemed proficient readers.

Education reform was a hot topic at the beginning of this year's legislative session but has lost momentum. We know that teachers are the single-most important factor in the success of a child's education. Teachers are inadequately evaluated. As a part of any education reform, we must ensure we have the most qualified and capable teachers.

The Iowa House recently passed HF 2380 that includes important measures our elected leaders should support for any final education reform bill. Included in the bill are the elimination of seniority-based layoffs and an annual evaluation of teachers based on objective measures of student growth to ensure high performance. Teachers are evaluated about every three years with no consideration to learning progress made by their students. This undervalues the critical role teachers play.

The bill also would expand the number of equitably funded quality charter school options in the state. There are few charter schools because of a time-consuming approval process. Most Iowans do not have access to these high-quality schools that provide more options for families and students.

Herb Anderson

Cedar Rapids