Teachers in Florida are suing because they are being evaluated on the basis of students they didn’t teach and subjects they don’t teach.
This is manifestly unfair.
Imagine being fired because the scores didn’t go up in someone else’s class.
Let the lawsuits begin.
In time, the madness will end, and those who created it and perpetuated will be covered with shame and disgrace.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
NATIONAL BRIEFING | SOUTH
Florida: Teachers Sue Over Evaluation System
By MOTOKO RICH
Published: April 17, 2013TS
Seven Florida teachers have brought a federal lawsuit to protest job evaluation policies that tether individual performance ratings to the test scores of students who are not even in their classes. The suit, which was filed Tuesday in conjunction with three local affiliates of the National Education Association in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Gainesville, says Florida’s two-year-old evaluation system violates teachers’ rights of due process and equal protection. Under a 2011 law, schools and districts must evaluate teachers in part based on how much their students learn, as measured by standardized tests. But since Florida, like most states, administers only math and reading tests and only in selected grades, many teachers do not teach tested subjects. One of the plaintiffs, a first-grade teacher, was rated on the basis of test scores of students in a different school in her district, and another, who teaches vocational classes to aspiring health care workers, was rated based on test scores of students in grades and subjects she had never taught. “This lawsuit highlights the absurdity of the current evaluation system,” said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association.
A version of this brief appeared in print on April 17, 2013, on page A17 of the New York Times edition with the headline: Florida: Teachers Sue Over Evaluation System.
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I have figured lawsuits would be the way it all eventually gets worked out.
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I agree, Joanna. If we can’t get them on the inanity of it, we can get them on the legality of it. Despite arguments to the contrary, teachers still have rights as citizens of this country.
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http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/04/16/florida-teachers-file-lawsuit-today-to-stop-evaluations-that-rely-on-test-scores/
From the AJC blog:
“Among the Florida teachers suing is first-grade teacher Kim Cook, her school’s 2012 Teacher of the Year. The lawsuit alleges that Cook was labeled “unsatisfactory” because of the performance of fourth and fifth graders in a different school.
Cook’s school, Irby Elementary School in Alachua, only goes through second grade so her district relied on scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test from older students who attend Alachua Elementary School. But here’s the disconnect: Cook has only been at her K-2 school for two years, so she never taught the older students whose scores influenced her evaluation.”
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I think this suit has real implications. Race To The Top requires that districts adopt evaluation systems that include student performance as a major element… and most states who accepted RTTT waivers are now going to be required to use poorly designed tests as the basis for evaluating teachers… and… like FLA, most states administer tests in a limited number of content areas to a limited number of grades. Keep your eye on this suit… as well as the (hopefully) forthcoming investigation of Michelle Rhee… the outcome of these developments will go a long way toward defining the future of high stakes testing.
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And you thought your child was taking a lot of tests now . . .
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How much traction and momentum can these lawsuits have? I’m worried the defendants (those supporting “reforms”) will say these policies were approved by a publicly-elected school board or the state “agreed” to them by accepting RttT money. Also…If these teachers are successful, I’m concerned an extra layer of beaucracy will be added; they might require more tests to “assess” students in non-core subject areas or students new to a school district. This would fall in line with the “don’t end it, mend it” mantra we’re hearing from the “reformers” in wake of the APS and DCPS scandals.
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We can win the lawsuits, but lose the war… Lawsuits take years, while they can make your school a charter school and fire all the teachers overnight! See Detroit, Pontiac, Highland Park, etc. etc. We even overturned the Emergency Manager Law through petitions for a ballot initiative, and they just wrote a new law… It’s going to take more than lawsuits…
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Lawsuits are powerful, even though they take time.
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If there are ENOUGH lawsuits, nationwide, people will start taking notice.
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We have to stop them. You should have seen what happened at UCLA. The first piece is up at George1la. My hard drive is full and I cannot load anymore now until cleaned out so that I can load the rest along with last Tuesdays LAUSD Board Meeting concerning taking away teachers “Due Process Rights” and 24th Street “Parent Trigger” where once again Parent Revolution gamed them again. They only go after desparate and uneducated people. This is why they have that Green Beret guy hustling signatures for them. It is his military training in psychological warfare that they are using along with “True Believers” as the troops. We waited in line at LAUSD with some. Amazing, reminded me of the cults I have fought in the past. Like the ones in which people died. Same game, same rules.
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We only hope the outrage will extend to Hillsborough County. The Gates propaganda machine has convinced many that we have it so much “better” than the rest of the state. Definitely not.
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Have been anticipating this for the last four years. It became clear to me before that and I didn’t expect it to take this long to get to the courts. Neither side in this confrontation has shown any sign of relenting or modifying its position. When such it the case, civilized people turn to the courts to sort things out. Will be following this case intently.
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I received an attachment last night. I was trying to figure out how to put it as a link, but I’m not that tech savvy. So, I am putting part of it in here. Phoenix is finally beginning to see that something has to be done before our public schools go away, too. Joe McCord is on the School Board in the Peoria District, which is a suburb of Phoenix. I hope that others like him will see this and decide to join this effort as well. I plan to send a check today to assist them in getting started. I will also volunteer as much as possible. Here is some of Mr. McCord’s email.
Here’s the program:
1. I and a few supporters of public education are in the process of forming a legal committee and opening a post office box. This might take a week or more because of having to meet certain requirements.
2. Once we’re up and running, I’ll get back to all of you and let you know how you can help.
3. We will compile legislators’ voting record regarding support for public education. Since these all are public records, there’s no way a legislator can say he or she supports public education when his or her votes prove otherwise.
4. We will publish those records and get them to voters at the appropriate time before the next election. Modern technology allows us to pinpoint parents of school age kids and these (plus grandparents) are our prime target.
5. We will not identify any legislator by party because this is not intended to be a political organization (that fact alone will prevent problems down the line, particularly in the financial reporting area). We also do not want to be accused of being “political” since we will publish the records of legislators in both parties and let the voters decide.
OK, so how do we do all this? There are three elements: Knowledge, Manpower, Money. We have people with years of experience in running campaigns so the knowledge is there. You will be asked to provide the manpower (womanpower, too). Money will be the biggest problem since it will require quite a bit to get out the word, so I will be asking for contributions from you (it’s the one thing I most hate to do, but there’s no other way).
As I noted above, once we’re set up I will recontact you unless you feel you would like to start right now just to help us kick off. The temporary address is: “FOR THE KIDS”, 10259 W. Mohawk Lane, Peoria AZ 85382.
Any amount, from $5 to $50 or more will help.
All money raised will go into a bank account where precise records will be kept on income and expenses.
Every penny raised will go to preparing and distributing legislators’ voting records. Not one cent will be paid in salaries (volunteers will do everything), fund raising, or for any expense not directly related to our goal of informing parents of the legislators’ voting records.
Joe McCord, Member
PUSD Governing Board
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I think Joe McCord has the right idea. Any thoughts on how it can be started in Florida as well?
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Marlo Thomas:
“There’s a land that I see, where the children are free. . .and I see it ain’t far to this land from where we are. Take my hand, come along, lend your voice to my song. . .come along, take my hand and we’ll run.”
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Will William Sanders, the father of Value-added evaluation be listed on the lawsuits?
http://www.schoolwisepress.com/smart/browse/account/sand_bio.html
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State education departments and the United States Department of Education should be sued as joint defendants.
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