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The Daily Signal
Obama
Administration’s New Teacher Equity Plan Will Not Improve Access to
Good Teachers
Brittany Corona
October 07, 2014
We can all agree that all students should have access to top-notch
teachers. But the approach the Obama administration is taking is
unlikely to lead to this.
Last Wednesday, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights
sent 14,000 school districts a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter outlining
administration guidance on resource equity—ensuring resources and good
teachers are as available to underprivileged children as to others—and
other education policies.
The 37-page letter, “breathtaking in its scope,” as Roger Clegg wrote
at National Review Online, noting that the Obama administration will be
looking at funding disparities both within school districts and between
them with a focus on access to effective teachers.
Although states already are required to have teacher equity plans under
No Child Left Behind, the administration’s teacher equity proposal from
July requires states to revisit NCLB’s Title I requirements by April
15, 2015.
As noted in July, the administration also will incorporate new data
from the Office of Civil Rights into “state profiles” to flag “states
where effective teachers aren’t reaching at-risk students.” According
to Education Week, the profiles could include information comparing
teacher experience levels, attendance rates and qualifications at high-
and low-poverty schools.
The guidance issued last week by Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
Catherine E. Lhamon said Office for Civil Rights’ analyses will
determine if school districts are intentionally or unintentionally
discriminating against minority students in their allocation of
resources—including effective teachers.
But to define teacher quality, Office for Civil Rights’ guidance
primarily uses “teachers’ licensure and certification status, whether
teachers have completed appropriate training and professional
development, whether teachers are inexperienced, whether they are
teaching out of their field and other indicators of disparities in
access to strong teachers.” Districts that don’t measure up are urged
to “proactively assess their policies.”
The problem is top-down enforcement of teacher equity requires states
to report largely on input-based measures—such as teacher
credentials—as proxies of teacher effectiveness. Yet research suggests
that inputs-based measures, such as paper credentials, have little to
no impact on teacher effectiveness.
The question of access to effective teachers, specifically for
disadvantaged students, was considered in the Vergara v. California
case in June. In the decision, California Superior Court Judge Rolf M.
Treu struck down five California laws that govern the hiring and firing
of teachers, laying the groundwork for school officials to potentially
retain the most effective teachers and dismiss ineffective teachers.
Office for Civil Rights’ letter begins with a reference to Brown v.
Board of Education, as did Treu’s decision. Treu compared Vergara to
landmark cases that defined educational equality, stating, “While these
cases addressed the issue of lack of equality of education based on the
discrete facts raised therein, here this Court is directly faced with
issues that compel it to apply these constitutional principles to the
quality of the educational experience.”
According to Heritage legal fellow Elizabeth Slattery, Treu’s opinion
“held that a disparity in the quality of education violates students’
right to equality because ‘grossly ineffective teachers’ have a ‘real
and appreciable’ impact on the students.”
Although both Vergara and the Office for Civil Rights guidance mention
Brown and recognize the importance of ensuring all students have access
to quality teachers, the guidance issued by the Department of Education
is unlikely to help achieve that goal.
The best way to ensure all students have access to quality teachers is
not to micromanage school districts through bureaucratic teacher equity
plans. Access to effective teachers and educational options can be
better achieved through school choice measures that empower parents to
choose schools—and teachers—to ensure the needs of their children are
met.
Read this article with links at The Daily Signal
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