EVALUATE THIS

The Governor and State Education Dept
are pressing for teacher evaluation plans

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Districts-work-on-evaluation-plans-2966138.php

Withholding federal and state aid from
school districts that fail to comply is
being held out as bait to improve
teacher evaluation/performance.

What about the other side of the
evaluation coin?  "Student" evaluation.

To learn- one must value learning, desire
to learn, put forth the effort to learn and
put into practice that which is learned.

Sadly, far too many public school pupils
demonstrate none of the above learning
requisites.

If federal and state aid is used as bait
to increase teacher performance - it
follows that some financial incentives
might be utilized to encourage learners
to learn and their parents to motivate
pupils to learn.

1. How about indexing the property
tax rate to school graduation rates?

For example, the Albany School District
has a 50 percent drop out rate. Property
tax payers should receive a 50 percent
decrease in their school property tax
bills.

2. Reduce welfare, crazy money (SSI)
payments to households who have
poorly performing children in the
city schools.

                                      Joe Sullivan