In a close vote, teachers at the Green Dot charter school chain endorsed a merit pay plan tied to test scores.
Although test score-based evaluation is highly unstable, the teachers decided to go along in hopes of qualifying for a bonus.
A teacher rated effective one year may be rated ineffective the next year, because there are so many factors beyond the teacher’s control that affect student scores.
The National Council on Teacher Quality thought this was a good move. So did Green Dot CEO, Marco Petruzzi, who previously worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Bain Capital.
Some teachers were not happy with the decision. Some were suspended or fired for fighting it. Students joined with teachers to protest, and the administration said the whole thing was blown out of proportion.
Scholars have warned that this method of evaluating teachers encourages teaching to the test, narrowing the curriculum, and other negative behaviors. Teachers who teach special education or English language learners will see the smallest gains. If these groups are underrepresented at Green Dot, as they are in many charter schools, that won’t be a problem.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So much has been made about Green Dot having a union. But I don’t believe they have a due process clause as proven by this case. What’s sad about this is that teachers obviously do not understand how VAM is calculated. That said, we know little of how Green Dot retains students who may do poorly on tests since charters can easily counsel out students. However, we have seen teachers with students who continuously score high get poor VAM results because this statistical measure cannot understand why students do not seem to be improving. The way the current NYS evaluation law is written, a teacher from Hunter High School, a school for gifted students, could be fired if their VAM score is low 2 years in a row..
Knowing the problems with VAM, the Green Dot union president backed this proposal. But then I am more mystified by the fact that public school union officials are also backing VAM when there are other evaluation methods that are proving to have better success at weeding out ineffective teachers without relying on one high-stakes test score. The only winners here are testing companies like Pearson. Perhaps if teachers want to make more money, they should invest in companies like Pearson instead of voting for merit pay.
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Do you think that the vote was what it was because teachers might have feared for their jobs depending upon the vote? Do you think that the administration had a few “moles” in place to monitor the whole process especially the voting process? Would you like to bet that those who voted no will not receive as many “bonuses” as those who voted yes? Do you think that those who voted no just might not be retained as much as the ones who voted yes?
If you answered no to any of the above questions I have some ocean front property at Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri that I can sell you!
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Would almost be surprised if there was not some vote coaching. Tenure is the only thing that protects teachers from undue influence.
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I hope there will be some comments that come from Green Dot educators on the outcome of the vote.
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I saw a video about Green Dot schools a while back, touting them with all their structure and such. Did not see a single wheelchair or a kid with cerebral palsy or Downs so, if they do the probably don’t have many and I can often spot my children.
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Merit pay is such an insult. It implies we are not already doing our best. Even worse, it implies that we teach to make money rather than the money allowing us to pursue our calling. I told the guy who is the head of the Louisiana charter group Black Alliance for Educational Choice that merit pay does not work for teachers. Kind of took him aback.
That is a lot of the problem with these charter people and even President Obama. They don’t realize, since they are not teachers, that teaching is a calling, not a job. It is something we are, not something we do. If we could ever get that across it would stop all this business of hiring not-teachers and insulting our profession.
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