From the Association Press- Teacher Tenure Ballot Comes to a Halt

Proponents of Missouri Teacher Tenure Ballot Question Halt Active Campaigning

• By DAVID A. LIEB  Associated Press
• First Posted: September 09, 2014 

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri — Supporters of a Missouri proposal to link teachers' job evaluations to student performance called off their campaign Tuesday, acknowledging that the measure wasn't polling as well as they had hoped.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment 3 still will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, but there will be no campaign to persuade people to vote for it, said Kate Casas, a spokeswoman for the Teach Great organization sponsoring the initiative.

"It has become clear that now is not the time to further pursue the Teach Great initiative," Casas said in a written statement.

Political activist Rex Sinquefield, an investment firm founder with a history of spending millions of dollars on his favorite causes, already had donated nearly $1.7 million to the campaign group that led an initiative petition drive to qualify the measure for the ballot.

As recently as the Labor Day weekend, supporters were still touting their campaign plans for the measure. And on Sept. 2, a Cole County judge rejected a legal challenge to the proposed constitutional amendment.

Casas said supporters would still defend against an appeal of that ruling, but she said a poor showing in public opinion polling led organizers to cancel plans for what had been expected to be a multimillion-dollar campaign for the measure.

"We need a longer runway to educate voters," she said.

The measure has been opposed by teachers' unions and school administrators' groups, who had planned a $2 million campaign against it.

"As long as this remains on the ballot, we will continue to campaign and let voters know this is not the right track to go," said Mike Wood, the government relations director for the Missouri State Teachers Association.

The proposal would end tenure protections for newly hired teachers, who currently qualify for indefinite contracts after working for five years at a public school district. They instead could have contracts of no more than three years.

Starting next July, the measure also would require schools to adopt an evaluation system that relies largely on "quantifiable student performance data" to make decisions about paying and retaining staff.

Public education groups assert that the ballot measure would take away local control from schools by requiring the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to approve their evaluation systems in order to receive taxpayer funding. They contend it could trigger a large increase in standardized testing, which currently occurs only in core subjects in certain grades, in order to provide data for teacher evaluations.

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Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine contributed to this report.

From the St. Louis Post Dispatch- Teach Great No Longer Campaigning for Amendment 3

Sinquefield-backed group no longer campaigning for teacher tenure ballot measure

September 09, 2014 4:58 pm  •  By Alex Stuckey astuckey@post-dispatch.com ​573-556-6186

JEFFERSON CITY • The Rex Sinquefield-backed group behind an initiative to weaken tenure and tie teacher evaluations to student performance will no longer be campaigning for the November ballot measure.

However, constitutional amendment 3 will remain on the ballot.

"It has become clear that now is not the time to further pursue the Teach Great initiative," spokeswoman Kate Casas said, adding that they still believe in the measure "wholeheartedly."

Sinquefield has funneled at least $1.6 million into Teach Great's political action committee.

The measure would require more than half of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on student academic outcomes, and it would allow districts to set a teacher’s pay based on how well his or her students perform. It would give districts more control over the terms of their contracts with teachers — allowing administrators to dismiss staff more easily. It would also prohibit districts from entering into contracts with certified staff that exceed three years.

Such a change would allow districts to reward good teachers and get rid of bad ones, Casas previously told the Post-Dispatch.

The opposition, comprised of teachers unions and public school organizations, argue the measure would lead to more standardized testing. 

Clearwater Board Opposes Amendment 3

From the Wayne County Journal Banner: Clearwater Board Opposing Amendment 3

Posted: Thursday, September 11, 2014 4:29 pm

The Clearwater R-1 Board of Education passed a resolution Monday evening to officially oppose Amendment 3 on the November ballot, which would take away local control of schools.

Robert Gayle, Clearwater R-1 Board president, said, “Amendment 3 will take away local control of schools, and we are fundamentally opposed to that. The fact is Amendment 3 would implement unfunded, state-mandated standardized tests that could cost upwards of $1 billion, which school districts and taxpayers would be forced to pay. Additionally, Amendment 3 would prevent school boards from hiring, promoting, compensating or dismissing teachers in accordance with board policy.” We believe that this amendment will have many unintended consequences for our school district,” Gayle continued. “We know our schools and our students best, and it’s important that our community maintain control of the schools in our district.”

KQTV- St. Joseph School Board Opposes Amendment 3

Video on Amendment 3 From KOMU-TV

MO Ballot Features Teacher Evaluation Change: From KOMU TV

Missouri ballot features teacher evaluation change

Posted: Sep 1, 2014 2:05 PM by The Associated Press 
Updated: Sep 1, 2014 3:34 PM

• • 

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Missouri voters are likely to hear a lot about good teachers and local control in the coming months.
Public education groups are gearing up for a big battle with prominent political donor Rex Sinquefield over a proposed constitutional amendment changing teacher employment standards in Missouri.
The proposal will be labeled as Constitutional Amendment 3 on the November ballot. It would limit teacher tenure protections and require school personnel to be evaluated, paid and fired based largely on student performance data.
Sinquefield is bankrolling the group backing the measure. He says it will reward good teachers and help schools get rid of bad ones.
Teachers unions and school administrators' groups are opposing the measure. They say it will lead to more standardized testing and less local control for schools.

From the Columbia Missourian

Missouri ballot features teacher evaluation change

Monday, September 1, 2014 | 6:00 a.m. CDT

BY DAVID A. LIEB/ASSOCIATED PRESS

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri voters are likely to hear a lot about good teachers and local control in the coming months, as a costly campaign unfolds over a ballot proposal that would link teachers' salaries and jobs to the performance of their students.

The proposal, known as Constitutional Amendment 3, may be the most prominent item on the November ballot, which for the first time since 1990 lacks an election for one of the big three offices of president, U.S. Senate or governor.

The teacher-evaluation proposal is being bankrolled by prominent political activist Rex Sinquefield, an investment firm founder who has a history of spending millions of dollars on his favorite causes. It's opposed by a public education coalition financed largely by teachers' unions that are pledging a vigorous advertising effort.

The proposal would end tenure protections for newly hired teachers, who currently qualify for indefinite contracts after working for five years at a public school district. They instead could have contracts of no more than three years.

Starting next July, the measure also would require schools to adopt an evaluation system that relies largely on "quantifiable student performance data" to make decisions about paying and retaining staff.

A Sinquefield spokesman said he wasn't available to comment but pointed to a video posted on Sinquefield's website in which he says teacher tenure protections must be ended to improve education.

"We've got to have good teachers and get rid of the bad ones," Sinquefield says in the video.

Teachers' groups contend the measure fails to ensure students get the best possible instruction and could actually worsen their education by multiplying the number of standardized tests students must take.

With "more emphasis on the standardized testing, learning will change for students. They will end up becoming a number and test score as opposed to an individual who should be looked at and taught that way," said Mike Wood, the government relations director for the Missouri State Teachers Association.

Education groups assert that the ballot measure will take away local control from schools, drive up costs and force a one-size-fits-all approach for student testing and staff evaluations. They predict a tenfold increase in standardized tests, which currently are given only in core subjects in certain grades but may have to be expanded to provide data for teacher evaluations.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted new staff evaluation guidelines earlier this year that require student performance to be a significant factor. But the ballot measure would take that further by requiring a majority of the evaluation to be based on the data.

Teachers' groups contend the ballot initiative would diminish local control by requiring the state department to approve their evaluation systems in order to receive taxpayer funding.

Kate Casas, a spokeswoman for Teach Great, the organization sponsoring the initiative, described the amendment as a "minor adjustment" to evaluation methods. She said it could result in "much more local control," because superintendents and school boards could gain greater leeway to make staff changes.

Teach Great has received $1.8 million — nearly all of that from Sinquefield — to finance the initiative. It's likely to get millions of more dollars as the campaign progresses.

The Committee in Support of Public Education is leading the campaign against the measure. Wood said opponents have a budget of a little over $2 million, with about half of that coming from the National Education Association and its state chapter, about $500,000 from affiliates of the Missouri State Teachers Association and $250,000 from the American Federation of Teachers.

Opponents plan to run "significant" amounts of TV and radio ads as the election approaches, said Mike Sherman, a Minneapolis-based consultant who has been hired as a spokesman for the opposition campaign.

"This probably is going to be the big issue" for Missouri's elections, Sherman said. "You're going to be hearing about this a whole lot."