Teacher question hurtling towards 2012 ballot, union vows lawsuit

bostonherald.com ^ | 10/23/2011 | Michael Norton and Kyle Cheney

[massmike]

An advocacy group pressing for a ballot law that would force schools to prioritize teacher effectiveness over seniority in hiring, layoff, and transfer decisions says it has amassed more than 100,000 voter signatures, but the state’s largest teacher’s union is gearing up to fight the proposal in court.

Attorney General Martha Coakley, who is charged with reviewing ballot questions to ensure they comply with legal criteria, certified the teacher evaluation proposal in August, clearing the way for advocates to launch their signature drive. But the MTA argues that the proposal should never come before voters because it violates laws governing the proper form of ballot questions.

The union encouraged its members not to sign the petition if asked to by a signature collector and will fight the plan if it reaches the ballot. Noting new teacher evaluation rules were approved statewide on June 28, the union called the petition a “distraction from the real problems in public education.”

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks massmike. Interesting.

[Salvavida]

Lost in the question are the parents. Parents themselves should receive a score from their participation in the education of their children; tying it to ANY local, state or federal aid or grants.

[basil]

It might be a good idea for the parents to have a say in what the kids are learning.............but if many of the parents bother to learn what is being taught I would be mightily surprised.

[traditional1]

In Ohio, where Issue 2 is an attempt to Repeal Kasich's already-in-place Bill 5, which limits collective bargaining in Public Sector jobs, is having millions poured into pro-Union Ads.

What kind of ads they're putting up are "teachers will have no voice in class sizes, will spend time being evaluated, and taking that time away from Teaching Children", etc., etc. On Safety Forces Unions and Nurses, they run ads about people dying, lack of proper medical care due to fewer nurses, lack of police and fire (the Biden "rape and murder" lines), etc., etc.

There's a real good chance that Issue 2 will pass, and the gains in reining in the golden benefits, protected incompetence, and Public Union Strike-Power, but we have so many Union thugs, an excess of Public "Workers", and all the Democrat-only voters that REAL Americans will be out-numbered here.

Make no mistake, just like in Wisconsin, there's no end to the money the Unions will spend to keep their Golden Goose.

[Chode]

like the RAT said

"When schoolchildren start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of schoolchildren."

[buccaneer81]

I’m looking forward to voting yes not only on Issue 2, but on 1 and 3 as well.

[jmax]

>>>> "..........the union called the petition a 'distraction from the real problems in public education'." <<<

Yeppers, the real problem in public education is that all teachers, including the ones who can't even spell 'education', don't make $200,000 a year (yet).

S / off....