Minnesota’s Plan for Education Reform
We have an opportunity this year to pass laws that will take huge strides toward ensuring a great teacher and great school for every Minnesota student. You can learn about the key issues below:
Save Great Teachers
When teacher layoffs are necessary, the best teachers should get to stay. Layoffs should be based on teacher effectiveness, not on seniority.
Currently, in Minnesota, state law mandates that when teacher layoffs are necessary, they are based solely on seniority. This outdated and bureaucratic practice known as “last in, first Out” (LIFO) means that the last teacher hired has to be the first teacher fired, regardless of the teacher’s effectiveness. This makes no sense. We should always keep our best teachers in the classroom.
LIFO negatively impacts kids in 3 ways:
- Research indicates that when districts with LIFO conduct layoffs, they end up firing some of their most highly effective educators.
- LIFO policies increase the number of teachers that districts have to lay off. Because junior teachers make less money, districts have to lay off more of them in order to fill their budget gaps.
- LIFO disproportionately and negatively impacts the highest need schools. These schools have larger numbers of new teachers, who are the first to lose their jobs in a layoff.
The House and the Senate have passed legislation that would end seniority-based layoffs and make sure that layoffs, when necessary, are based on teacher effectiveness. Now we need the governor to sign the bill.
Meaningful Teacher and Principal Evaluations
We should evaluate teachers and principals in a fair and meaningful way so we can reward excellence and support those who need improvement.
An effective teacher is the most important school-based ingredient to a student's success. In fact, a new ground-breaking study shows that a great teacher has a lasting impact on a student’s life outcomes. Because of this, fair and meaningful teacher evaluations are critical. We must be able to recognize and reward excellence in the classroom and identify and support teachers that need improvement.
Teacher evaluations should be clear and consistent and based on multiple criteria, with the most significant factor being measurements of student learning.
As leaders on school campuses, principals must also be fairly evaluated. Evaluations should be based on school-wide student achievement growth as well as the principal's ability to recruit and retain effective teachers.
Education reform in Minnesota needs to include meaningful teacher and principal evaluation. This is a big step toward ensuring an excellent teacher and excellent school for every student.
Empowering Parents
Parent involvement is critical to student success. We must empower parents with quality information about their child’s school and teachers and with alternatives when their child is not getting the education they deserve.
Parents should have access to quality information about the performance of their child’s school and other schools available to them. School scorecards, that include student achievement gains and give parents an easy-to-understand letter grade, should be distributed to all parents. And parents should have multiple, quality public school options so they can choose the best school for their child.
Parents should also be notified if their child has been assigned to a teacher that consistently receives poor evaluations and should be able to request a different teacher.
Last, parents should be able to force turnaround measures if their child’s school is repeatedly failing. Several states around the country have enacted laws, known in Minnesota as “parent petition” laws, that enable parents, if a majority agree, to demand that a failing school make significant changes.
Minnesota should enact “parent petition” laws that guarantee parents the right to meaningful information and the ability to take action to ensure a quality education for their child.
