Major policy shift comes less than a year after accepting Obama administration’s “edujobs” bailout money
At its convention earlier this week, the National Education Association finally faced reality and agreed that student achievement and academic growth should be part of the teacher evaluation process.
The decision ends the union’s long-held argument that teachers should not be held accountable for public education’s final product – student learning.
We cannot think of any other group of professionals who brand themselves as experts but refuse to be held accountable for the final product. After Monday’s vote, it appears the teachers union is finally ready to take ownership of its role in public education, and that’s a very good development.
While education reformers would like to believe the NEA’s capitulation is further proof that it’s impossible to stop a good idea whose time has come, another maxim might be more fitting: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
The NEA’s policy reversal comes less than a year after Congress and the Obama administration spent $10 billion on its “edujobs” bill, which was little more than a bailout of school employee unions across the country. Taxpayers spent billions they didn’t have so teacher union members could delay making reasonable wage and benefit concessions that are necessary to prevent school budgets from imploding.
The NEA’s sudden policy shift makes it appear that the “edujobs” money came with a string or two attached. Eleven months after the bailout, the nation’s largest teachers union is singing off of Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s hymn sheet regarding student learning and teacher evaluations.
Whatever it was that brought the NEA to this point, it’s ultimately good news for students, parents and taxpayers. It confirms that education reformers are winning the debate about holding teachers culpable for what students are learning – or not learning – in the classroom.
Let’s hope the NEA’s change of heart is sincere, and the union leaders finally retire all the lame excuses as to why teachers should not be held accountable for student learning.
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