CHEYENNE – The movement to tie teacher accountability to student performance is growing. As the Wyoming Senate Education Committee removed such a provision in a bill, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle doesn’t think too much of the move.
    
Via WyomingNews.com: 

One of our biggest concerns about lawmakers’ efforts to develop a school accountability program is their regrettable tendency to compromise on every point. In the end, that pushes important programs away from rigor.

Unfortunately, our fears are being realized.

On Monday, the Senate Education Committee approved an amendment to House Bill 72 from state Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie. It would de-link teacher evaluations from student test scores. In other words, academic success, or lack thereof, would not figure into the decision on whether an instructor is doing a good job.

Here is how Mr. Rothfuss justifies the dumbing down of this essential program: “We’ve really been hearing that, while this might sound good at the 50,000-foot level, when you actually get down to implementation, it would be detrimental for education of the kids.”

Someone has been whispering in Mr. Rothfuss’ ears, and it sounds like the state’s teachers union. Its leaders fear strict accountability, and they fight it at every turn. Thus lawmakers chant such gobbledygook as it “takes a school to raise a child” to argue that individual teachers should not be held accountable for students’ test results.

But if no one is going to face the consequences for poor pupil performance, how is the problem ever going to be fixed? The honest answer: It is not. Or at least not at the levels that could be obtained by truly holding teachers accountable for results.

As for Mr. Rothfuss’ contention that it is hard to implement accountability based on student performance, the proper response is: So what? No one said it would be easy. But given that nearly half of the states are moving in this direction, perhaps it is time for Wyoming to get on board.