Seattle teachers reach tentative contract agreement

Seattle Public Schools and its teachers union reached a tentative agreement Wednesday on a contract that allows student test scores to be used as a trigger to more closely evaluate teachers.

By Seattle Times staff
Seattle Public Schools and its teachers union reached a tentative agreement Wednesday on a contract that allows student test scores to be used as a trigger to more closely evaluate teachers.

Seattle Education Association (SEA) members are expected to vote Thursday on the three-year pact. The first day of school is scheduled for Sept. 8.

"Including student-growth measures as part of the new evaluation ensures that principals and teachers have the tools and information to focus on how well students are learning and what we need to do to boost academic achievement in every classroom," Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson said in a statement.

The tentative agreement comes amid a troubled relationship between the union and Goodloe-Johnson. On Thursday, along with the contract vote, members will take a no-confidence vote on the superintendent. The SEA board has recommended a vote of no-confidence.

SEA President Olga Addae said Wednesday's agreement came about "despite her (Goodloe-Johnson), not because of her."

Until last month, district administrators and the union said little about what they were discussing in their negotiations. That ended when they reached a stalemate over administrators' proposal to use student-academic growth, measured by test scores, as one factor in judging how well teachers do their jobs. The district proposed matching that increased accountability with additional support for teachers.

The teachers union has said test scores are a good tool for teachers, but it strongly opposed using them to measure teacher effectiveness, even as one part of an evaluation that also includes principal observations. Too many factors outside of the classroom can cause test scores to go up and down, the union has said.

The two sides met every day last week and spent long hours at the bargaining table this week.

Outside of Seattle, a growing number of states and districts also are considering or are planning to use test scores in teacher evaluations. The idea is to compare how well students do on tests over the course of a year and compare the results of different teachers.

There is strong research that shows good teaching is the most important school-based factor in how much students achieve. But there is a lot of debate over whether test scores can be used to measure it.

Source: The Seattle Times