As seemingly inexorable pressure builds in California schools for some form of teacher evaluations that encompass standardized student test scores, a bill that would have tied a statewide framework to local collective bargaining was withdrawn just before the legislative session ended last week.

Assembly Bill 5 was a hotly-contested piece of legislation that would have authorized the state Board of Education to create a best-practices model for evaluations, increased the frequency of performance reviews and classroom observations, added an “excellent” category to the pass/fail system, and allowed student test scores to be incorporated into the process.

It was viewed by its opponents as a Trojan horse, appearing to embrace the use of evaluations and student test scores, while blunting already existing efforts to make them central in assessing the value of teachers. Unions are resistant to evaluations and want any new system to be subject to collective bargaining.

The California Teachers Union supported AB5 and lamented its demise. “The California Best Practices Teacher Evaluation bill was an opportunity to get beyond the simple test score debate and to develop meaningful teacher assessments based on multiple measures of accountability,” the union wrote on its website.

California has had a law around since 1972, the Stull Act, that puts test scores front and center in teacher evaluations but whose impact has been blunted over the years. In June, a Superior Court judge ordered the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to start using standardized test scores in evaluating the effectiveness of teachers but did not specifically say how that should be put into practice.

The union interpreted the ruling to mean it was subject to collective bargaining. LAUSD Superintendent of Schools John Deasy said the ruling meant the school district could develop an evaluation system without negotiations.

After the court decision, AB5, which had originally surfaced as a bill in 2010 without union support, was retooled by Democratic Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes as a vehicle more attuned to labor’s sensibilities. But it failed to garner enough support to advance in the Legislature.

The battle over the merits of standardized student test scores, the use of teacher evaluations, and the role of unions in shaping local and state school policy continues to unfold against a backdrop of federal education directives and the hundreds of millions of dollars that accompany them. Grant recipients are under pressure to implement strong teacher evaluation systems to qualify.

The Obama administration also requires an evaluation system to qualify for a lucrative waiver from No Child Left Behind. Thirty-three states have won the waiver but California is not currently considered a strong contender to join the group.    

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Lawmaker Withdraws Teacher Evaluation Bill (by Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times)

California Teacher Evaluation Overhaul Shelved in Legislature (by Mike Rosenberg, San Jose Mercury News)

Assemblyman's Teacher Rating Bill Shelved (by Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee)

LAUSD Ordered to Use Student Achievement in Judging Teachers (by Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times)

Assembly Bill 5: A Giant Step Back for Teacher Evaluation in Los Angeles (by Educators 4 Excellence Los Angeles Executive Director Ama Nyamekye, Huffington Post)

California’s Educators Disappointed State Missed Opportunity to Improve Teacher Evaluation (California Teachers Association)

Statement on AB 5 (Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes)