Teachers’ groups disagree on changes

While two unions are vehemently opposed to the new teacher evaluations, a third teachers’ group is embracing the overhaul and instructing educators on how it works.

“Not all teachers are opposed to this,” said Polly Broussard, interim executive director of the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana, which goes by the acronym A+PEL.

Broussard and others call their group a professional organization, not a teachers’ union like the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the Louisiana Association of Educators.

“We don’t use the techniques that they do,” said Kelli Bottger, director of government relations and communications for the group.

Months of training sessions for teachers on what the changes mean is just one of the issues that separate A+PEL from the two teacher unions.

A+PEL backed the 2010 evaluation law, which is being used for the first time to rate teachers in the current school year.

The LFT and LAE opposed the measure.

Some union leaders argue that it is part of a push by Gov. Bobby Jindal, state Superintendent of Education John White and their allies to destroy public education in Louisiana.

Leaders of both groups blasted changes to the reviews that White recommended, and which the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved on Jan. 16.

A+PEL leaders praised the modifications, some of which stemmed from suggestions offered by the group after surveys of what it says is a roughly 7,000-member organization.

Teacher union officials say the reviews are flawed. Some have hinted at a legal challenge.

A+PEL officials estimate that they have led training sessions for about 2,000 teachers in the past year in a bid to shed light on the new job reviews.

Part of the aim, officials said, is to quell fears among some of the state’s 55,000 teachers that the new job reviews will lead to their dismissal.

“Teachers are concerned because they don’t have enough information,” said Keith Courville, director of professional development and university programs for the group.

The state used to rely on classroom observations, mostly by principals every one to three years to rate teacher performance.

But critics said that, since more than 98 percent of educators got satisfactory marks, the reviews meant little and student achievement suffered.

“It wasn’t much,” Courville said of the earlier reviews.

The new system requires teachers to undergo annual reviews.

Half of the job check will be linked to the growth of student achievement. The other half will be based on classroom observations.

In the past much of that focused on whether the teacher was meeting expectations, sometimes with the help of a checklist. “The new observations are all focused on the students,” Courville said.

A+PEL officials said they have held about 30 training sessions for teachers in the past 12 months. Audiences ranged from five to 180 teachers.

Officials of the group say the meetings are not limited to A+PEL members, which means that some of the questions and comments come from critics of the overhaul.

A+PEL donated $25,000 to train teachers in Tensas and Concordia parishes, where 30 percent of teachers were rated as ineffective — the lowest ranking possible — in trial runs.

The aid is meant to help prepare teachers for new, nationwide classroom standards set to take effect next year. By doing so teachers will have a better chance of getting high marks on their evaluations, Bottger said.

State education leaders initially said that, once all the evaluations are in, about 10 percent would get the top ranking, 10 percent at the bottom and 80 percent in the middle.

The changes approved by BESE earlier this month will allow teachers in the 80th percentile to land the top rating, or “highly effective.”

Those expected at the bottom end — possibly about 5,000 teachers — remain the same. In addition, teachers that fall between the 21st and 79th percentile — they would all be rated as “effective” — will be able to get additional feedback from principals on their strengths and weaknesses.

Comments

1) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 22/01/2013

@twinkie1cat.....#1 I was quoting a poster below me that referred to the sixties, that was NOT my words #2 Please point out where I mentioned desegregation #3 I'm not a her and far from racist...... I will admit a prejudice to lazy people though. Please read any post I have made and you will see that I have always backed our public teachers/schools. You mentioned zero tolerance, which I think actually goes together with the point I was trying to make. Schools have become so threatened by lawsuits, that they now have to overreact due to this fear. People are so quick to want to sue b/c little Johnny accidentally fell off the monkey bars at school that the schools are trying to protect themselves in every aspect. Goes back to my free handout comments. People are looking for something for nothing and teaching their kids to live the same way. Why go to school when you are guaranteed a monthly check if you play the system right?

2) Comment by twinkie1cat - 22/01/2013

Just as Bobby Jindal is a tool of the Louisiana Family Forum, The Catholic Church, Grover Norquist, and the National GOP, so are BESE, John White, and A+PEL tools of Bobby Jindal. Satan is having his way with the schools in Louisiana. May God help us.

3) Comment by twinkie1cat - 22/01/2013

I will tell you what one of the earliest blows to public education was, and it was not desegregation as "Concerned Parent (Lord help us! What is she teaching her children?) implies with her racist dating. by citing the 1960s. It was a regulation called ZERO TOLERANCE that took away teachers' right to use their professional judgment in matters of discipline. Zero Tolerance led to such atrocities as kindergarteners being suspended for sexual harassment and, recently another 5 year old being suspended for "terrorism" when she said she was going to shoot her classmate with her BUBBLE GUN. Another little one was suspended for pointing a gun finger and a 6 year old for having a Hello Kitty key chain. Zero Tolerance started America down the road to teacher disrespect and the erosion of the public schools. Now we have a governor who thinks that you don't need a college degree to teach school, that experience does not matter for teachers, that certification is a waste of time, and that test scores equal education. And that is what caused the schools to go down, disrespect of professional, career, experienced teachers. If you don't believe this, next time you need surgery, go get your cashier at Walmart, give her a clean scalpel and an anesthetic, and tell her to take care of that tumor. Because that is they way we are going with the quality of Education in Louisiana.

4) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 22/01/2013

"Um, public education started being destroyed back in the early/mid sixties." And who has been running the system this whole time? The state dept, BESE, politicians, etc. NOT teachers. And now we are supposed to listen to them yet again? THEY are the problem. Who has let the communities continue to degrade by offering more and more free handouts. Not the schools. Who has instilled a sense of entitlement and the promise of a check for every new child you have(while NOT working)? Who allows kids to see their nonworking parents buying Coke, candy, chips, and other "wants" not "needs" with a little card they just swipe through a machine?

5) Comment by Traveler - 21/01/2013

APEL claims to be "apolitical"----to be "above" seeking to influence the votes of Louisiana's legislature. Yet if you happen to be in the halls of the state capitol when the legislature is in session, APEL agents are always there. APEL claims to represent the interests of its members when professional problems arise. Yet if you have ever found yourself in the Human Resources office of your local school district, have your ever once----even ONCE----encountered an APEL staffer assisting a member who had a conflict with an administrator? APEL claims to be a "transparent" organization, with no secrets about its funding. Yet try to discover its source of funds from out-of-state and see how far you get. Noel Hammatt's comments are accurate. This group has ties to those whose agenda is self-serving rather than in the best interests of our children, our teachers, and the teaching profession.

6) Comment by shreveportsam - 21/01/2013

I follow APEL's facebook, but I'm not a member, just surprised by the vitriol of these comments. I liked the facebook because they have really great updates. They must have their own reporter to cover all those meetings. Seems like this article has A+PEL responsible for improving, but not dismantling the new job evaluation. It could use some improvement, but we shouldn't not have job evaluations. We can disagree with the new observations or how much weight should be given to student scores. I know my value added (last year, pilot?) wasn't where I wanted it to be. But I also saw on edconnect that there are some updates. my scores last year said I had a problem growing the middle, but I was easily safe on tenure. I don't know enough about how they are calculating scores, besides growing students, and I wish I knew more. I'm not going to say my review was perfect but....It looks horrible when teachers say, like the unions do, that we SHOULD NOT HAVE an annual performance review, instead of every 3 years, or never if you had tenure.

7) Comment by LSUGrad07 - 21/01/2013

I like how these comments are intended to have a negative connotation, but I know I speak for many reading this when I say that the above comments are just ringing endorsements for groups like APEL. APEL is not a union? Thank heavens. APEL agrees with Jindal's reforms to empower parents? Hallelujah. APEL supports professional teachers and not the factory worker-type teachers? Refreshing. APEL is trying to destroy the education system as we know it? As a Louisiana public school grad, I say give me a sledge hammer so I can help.

8) Comment by 8point6 - 21/01/2013

"Some union leaders argue that it is part of a push by Gov. Bobby Jindal, state Superintendent of Education John White and their allies to destroy public education in Louisiana." Um, public education started being destroyed back in the early/mid sixties.

9) Comment by jwarren - 21/01/2013

Yes, APEL in Louisiana is simply an arm of the Jindal administration. They do not work for the best interests of teachers and public education. It would be interesting to show me one major disagreement APEL has had with the Jindal education "reforms." Just one. MAJOR disagreement. Not a head fake over tweaks and minor things, but a MAJOR disagreement about anything.

10) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 21/01/2013

We are talking a large bed here. APEL, LABI, and LDOE are all in this bed together! To read materials on APEL's website is like trying to watch the magician's hand as the body disappears. Mis- direction is one of their favorite plays. They have a long section on the rights of tenured teachers, without ever pointing out that no new teachers will likely ever achieve tenure, and any teacher with current tenure can lose that with one poor showing on the Value Added Measures system, sort of like playing the roulette wheel at the casino. And no, you are not the HOUSE in this roulette game. But for even more fun, watch the videos on their website. And this is called Professionalism. Just check it out. Questions to ask. Does APEL still reside in LABI headquarters, or have they moved out? Has APEL received any money directly, or indirectly from the Louisiana Department of Education to train teachers. Ask how APEL managed to secure seats inside the hearings during the blitzkrieg to destroy public education last spring.

11) Comment by twinkie1cat - 21/01/2013

APEL is not a union. They masquerade as a teachers organization and are unworthy of the designation. They do not advocate for the teachers. They do not represent them in due process or for their needs or causes. They have sections in other states and I remember when they got started in Georgia. They are part of a group that was formed for those few teachers who are far right conservatives who do not believe in the values of the NEA and the AFT. Holly Boffy, who is now a JINDALCLONE on BESE was a member of APEL. I hope she reads this because being a Jindalclone when you are special education is a betrayal of our students and our special ed. family. (Yes, I know you were gifted. They are still special needs kids.) A word to teachers who are thinking of joining this group is DON'T. They are they enemy disguised a teaching certificate and they do nothing good.