Teacher pay measure qualifies for Ore. ballot
Performance-based initiative pushed by tax activist Bill Sizemore
By BRAD CAIN
Associated Press
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 10:55 AM PDT
SALEM — Oregon teachers’ salaries would be tied to their ‘’classroom performance’’ under an initiative that’s won a spot on the November ballot. It is sure to spark a tough fight between teachers unions and the measure’s sponsor, Bill Sizemore.
The secretary of state’s office said Tuesday the measure had enough valid petition signatures to qualify for the statewide ballot, despite complaints by a union-backed group that some of the signatures were forged. Election officials are investigating the complaint, though they said the measure nonetheless has qualified. The teacher merit pay plan would tie teacher raises and job security rights to loosely defined “classroom performance,’’ instead of on experience or seniority levels.
“The current teacher pay system is 95 percent based on seniority,’’ Sizemore said Tuesday. “Teachers get paid just for being there longer, without regard to whether they are doing a good job or not.’’
A coalition of teachers, parents and education backers who oppose Sizemore’s initiative said it would do nothing to improve student achievement or teacher quality. They said it would only lead to more standardized testing in classrooms and more ‘’teaching to the test.’’
‘’We will fight to defeat this measure, because we know it is not good for our kids,’’ said Treasure Mackley, spokeswoman for the group.
In 2000, Oregon voters rejected a teacher merit pay initiative that would have linked educator salaries directly to student test results.
Schools and districts in about 20 other states have incentive pay plans, though the plans vary from place to place.
Sizemore said he purposely left the wording of the measure open-ended, to deflect criticism about forcing educators to teach to the test. He said merit pay could be based on classroom testing but also include peer review, supervisor evaluations or demonstrated student improvement.
‘’There’s no definition of ‘classroom performance’ because I wanted that to be open and flexible so we can design a merit pay system that works for Oregon,’’ Sizemore said.
Five of the initiatives on this November’s ballot are sponsored or co-sponsored by Sizemore, who for years has been Oregon’s most prolific purveyor of conservative-tilted initiatives.
Three other initiatives have qualified as well, along with four measures referred to the ballot by the Legislature. In all, Oregon voters will be confronted with a dozen ballot measures this fall.
Tuesday’s announcement that Sizemore’s teacher merit pay plan has qualified marks the latest turn in a long-running battle between Sizemore and the teachers unions.
A jury awarded two of Oregon’s largest ones $2.5 million in 2002 after they filed an anti-racketeering lawsuit against Sizemore, claiming he used forgery and fraud to qualify two anti-union ballot measures in 2000.
Randy wrote on Jul 24, 2008 6:57 AM:
Despite all the rules, life doesn't wait for us to read them. Your can jump through all the hoops, do everything right, and still get left behind or run over by popular opinion. Who was the bright boy who gave us 36 only to be followed by 48 to clean up the mess? And, I can't keep the numbers straight when those writers hide their big ideas in numerical anonymity.
No one is going to appreciate or even learn the rules until its too late to avoid them. Give me a plain red stop sign and I'll be happy to oblige with that. School districts are always hiring, there must be a turn over. I went to a social function to be inspired by the host and soured by one of the guests. When I found out that the unsavory guest was a fifth grade school teacher, I immediately regarded her as an operator of a day-care center, not a teacher. Thank god I am not in school anymore and can walk away rather than get stuck with someone not of my liking. Dad was of the same ilk. He would accuse me of being lazy while never accepting his own un-inspirational character that would leave the chores undone. Who wants to live or learn in an environment of oppressive imperialism run by a tyrant of ignorance. "