Federal Appeals Court Upholds Florida Teacher Evaluation Law

July 8, 2015

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a controversial Florida law tying teacher evaluations to student performance.

It did not violate constitutional rights for the state or a school district to base part of a teacher’s evaluation on tests that the teacher’s students took in other subjects, or even on tests taken by children not taught by that teacher, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said. Essentially, the judges ruled that the state’s approach to boosting student performance was not entirely unreasonable.

“While the (formula) may not be the best method — or may even be a poor one — for achieving this goal, it is still rational to think that the challenged evaluation procedures would advance the government’s stated purpose,” wrote Judge Jill Pryor in the court’s opinion. The appeal came after U.S. District Judge Mark Walker threw out parts of the case in two rulings last year.

In 2013, the state passed a law aimed at making sure classroom teachers are only assessed based on the students they teach, but the appeals court said that didn’t make the lawsuit moot because the new law could still allow districts to approve similar polices.

“We’re disappointed that the court did not agree that Florida’s flawed evaluation system violated these teachers’ constitutional rights,” Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, said in a prepared statement. Ford said the FEA, which joined with the National Education Association, local unions and seven teachers to challenge the law, was still deciding what to do next.

by The News Service of Florida

Comments

3 Responses to “Federal Appeals Court Upholds Florida Teacher Evaluation Law”

  1. David Huie Green on July 10th, 2015 8:39 pm

    CONTEMPLATING:
    “Explain to me how that can be tied into a teacher’s overall evaluation if they never taught the child? ???”

    Perhaps it will give the teacher who doesn’t teach the children the incentive to give the incentive to the teacher who DOES teach the children.

    “Hey, yo, if your kids don’t improve, my pay gonna get cut. So you better get to it for all of us if you know what’s good for you, yo?”

    David for perfect tests

  2. No Excuses on July 8th, 2015 5:31 pm

    I agree, Dman. This is about as unfair as it gets. A teacher who works hard and gets results should not be penalized by test scores from a student they did not teach – especially if those students came from a substandard teacher’s classroom. Explain to me how that can be tied into a teacher’s overall evaluation if they never taught the child? ???

  3. dman on July 8th, 2015 11:47 am

    US Test scores, graduation rates, and international competition continues to lag behind other developed nations, but yet, nothing is done to change it. The parents and Children and young adults who make poor decisions are not held accountable for their decisions- nowadays, it’s the teacher’s fault. Kind of like blaming the bank for giving that person a loan who defaulted, or blaming McDonald’s for your child’s weight (who bought them those happy meals again?), blaming police for higher crime, etc. The US has turned into a country that blames someone else for its problems and does nothing to make meaningful change. The teachers are doing their best; quit punishing them or you will have no one to teach at all. A wise person once said, “If you keep doing what you always did, you will get what you always got”.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News