Jefferson City Schools Superintendent Brian Mitchell wants voters to remember that a proposal to tie teachers' salaries to students' performance and test results, and to prohibit tenure for future teachers, remains on Missouri's Nov. 4 election ballot.
Mitchell issued the reminder in a news release this week, after the proposed constitutional amendment's supporters last week announced that they no longer will provide funding to support a campaign for the proposal, designated as Amendment 3 on the November ballot.
Mitchell said in the news release that he will be sharing information through multiple community outlets "to ensure everyone understands the significance of this ballot measure."
"It is still extremely important that every community member understand the negative consequences of this amendment," he said.
The amendment was placed on the ballot through an initiative petition, circulated primarily by the group "Teach Great," and financed largely by Rex Sinquefield, a retired investments manager who has backed other ballot issues in the past.
Supporters have said the amendment would help school officials keep the best teachers in the classroom and weed out those who are poor teachers.
Mitchell's news release Thursday listed some of the proposal's "harmful effects," using information available on the opponents' website, www.protectourlocalschools.com/facts.
• Opponents say the amendment will take away local control from parents, teachers and school districts and "hand it to Jefferson City politicians, while implementing unfunded, state-mandated standardized tests."
They note the required tests would have to be approved by the state Elementary and Secondary Education department, and argue: "This top-down mandate will force local school districts to spend money that could have been used in the classroom."
• Opponents also argue the proposed amendment "is a one-size-fits-all approach that treats our students like numbers and prevents teachers from treating our students like individuals."
Forcing schools to administer more standardized tests that are intended to be "the main evaluation for teachers" means more teachers "will be forced to "teach to a test,'" the opponents said.
• Rather than judging teachers' abilities through test results, the opponents said, "Real accountability should come from principals regularly monitoring classrooms, having experienced teachers mentor others and allowing parents more input in the process."
The amendment's supporters said that idea is too subjective, while evaluating teachers on their students' test scores provides a more objective way of measuring the teachers' ability and success.
Appeals court upholds teacher ballot initiative
A Missouri appeals court has rejected a challenge to a November ballot proposal requiring teachers to be evaluated based on student performance.
The decision Thursday by a panel of the Western District appeals court turned down claims that the measure improperly seeks to amend two parts of the constitution at once.
The proposal would require that schools base personnel decisions largely on student performance data and would bar unions from collectively bargaining over the details of those evaluation systems. It also would end tenure protections for newly hired staff by limiting contracts to three years.
The measure is opposed by public teacher and administrator groups.
It's been supported by prominent political donor Rex Sinquefield. But the group sponsoring the proposed constitutional amendment has said it won't be campaigning for it.