IEA Government Relations hides the real impact of SB 315.
In my previous post I make reference to Illinois Senate Bill 315.
If you go to the IEA web page and its Capitol Report you will read about SB 315. But, only as it refers to the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
A previous bill would have allowed teacher evaluations to be made available to anyone under the FOIA. SB 315 stops that.
But SB 315 also changes the way teachers are evaluated and gain tenure. SB 315 puts the state more in line with USDE chief Arne Duncan’s R2T demands. Even NY state’s legislature refused to go along with a similar bill.
Not only did Illinois include language that links student performance to individual teacher evaluation, it did so on the recommendation of the governor’s R2T panel, which included the IEA’s Executive Director.
Up to this very moment, any IEA member who goes to the IEA web site would find no mention of R2T, teacher evaluations or tenure in SB 315. The IEA was officially neutral on this bill.
Like I tell my students. If you were proud of what you did, you wouldn’t try to hide it.
