Ballot Measure 95, designed to base teachers’ salaries on the performance of their students, will potentially threaten job security and create competition between teachers, Oregon Parent Teacher Association President Kathryn Firestone said. Proponents, however, argue that such accountability will improve the quality of teaching in Oregon’s public schools.
Supported by Bill Sizemore of Oregon Taxpayers United, Measure 95 will require student learning, not a teacher’s seniority or education level, to determine their pay.
Oregon currently has the “Fair Dismissal Law,” designed to protect teachers from being unfairly fired. Seniority plays no part in a teacher’s employability, said Ted Heid, head of the Human Resource Department for the Eugene School District.
Supporters of the measure argue that seniority does exist and is keeping unqualified teachers employed. They suggest that teacher’s unions are working to keep teachers employed through seniority so the unions have more power.
“From the moment teacher’s unions have been in existence, they have been focused on keeping teachers employed because of seniority,” said Becky Miller, the measure’s sponsor and an Oregon Taxpayers United employee. “Since then, student learning has gone down.”
The measure does not specify how students’ learning will be measured. In fact, such details have been purposely left out of the measure so that each school district can determine its own form of measurement, Miller said.
Bob Bruce, of the Oregon University System’s Chancellors office, said that the proposed legislation would have no bearing on higher education, as the language of the ballot speaks to public schools.
“Professors at the university are on merit-based pay anyway, so it wouldn’t affect them,” he said.
It is assumed that student performance will be tested through standardized tests given at the beginning and the end of the school year, Firestone said, though the accuracy of the tests in determining student learning is debatable.
“Standardized testing is not a reasonable evaluation,” Firestone said. “To most kids, tests mean nothing.”
Firestone said he feels that using standardized tests will cause students of all levels to suffer.
“I’ve had a number of parents come to me and tell me their kids just don’t test well,” Firestone said. “Also, for those kids in special education classes, a good day is when they don’t lash out at a fellow classmate. No test can show progress like this.”
Miller argues the ballot defines job performance as the degree to which the appropriate knowledge is learned.
“Students will be measured on what they are expected to learn,” Miller said. “Children in special education classes will not be expected to meet the same criteria that, say, a child from another school is expected to learn.”
Miller also argues schools will end up with the best teachers, thanks to the results of the student evaluations.
Firestone disagrees, saying that if teachers are fired because of their student’s performances, they will start to compete with other teachers for honors classes.
“Teachers will only want to teach the AP [Advanced Placement] and honors level classes so that their students do well,” Firestone said.
Miller said that rather than competing for jobs, teachers will be more likely to request better materials and resources to help students learn better.
Both sides said parents should play an active part in the process, whether or not the measure passes.