Teachers union offers competing education revamp

One of the most vocal critics of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s education proposals, the Louisiana Association of Educators, is suggesting competing plans to improve teacher quality and boost performance at failing schools. The teacher and school employee union wants to rewrite the evaluation system for teachers by removing a requirement that half the evaluation be tied to growth in student test scores. Instead, LAE President Joyce Haynes says the union wants test scores to be only one data source in an evaluation that centers on a peer review process. The LAE wants to require four years (instead of the current three) and additional training before teachers are eligible for tenure. The union also calls for a streamlined process for removing underperforming tenured teachers that would utilize an arbitration panel, “so that no one is waiting for a school board to have a hearing,” Haynes says. The union wants a $500 tax credit for teachers for purchasing classroom supplies and more funding for public schools and preschool programs. While teachers unions and Jindal’s supporters are on opposite sides of many issues, Haynes says the LAE and the governor agree on the importance of early childhood education. “We believe the teachers are the experts here,” she says. “It took me four years to get into a conversation with the governor. I would hope that those doors would remain open.” —David Jacobs