LANSING, Mich. — Sen. John Damoose introduced legislation as part of a package of bills to increase accountability in schools, reward effective teachers and implement a stronger focus on student development.
“Michigan’s educational standing has been dismal in recent years, and we’re facing a crossroads when it comes to making meaningful changes to address our place in the national rankings,” said Damoose, R-Harbor Springs. “There have been a number of legislative efforts in the last few years that have certainly sent us backward, and my legislation and the other bills included in this package attempt to correct course and strengthen Michigan’s education standards.”
Senate Bill 379, sponsored by Damoose, focuses on rewarding and retaining teachers who have proven to be effective in educating and supporting students and reduces the focus on seniority status when it comes to promotions or rehiring after a reduction in staff. The bill would reinstate annual evaluations for teachers, require student progress to be part of every teacher’s evaluation process and allow evaluation results to be considered when promoting or removing teachers, granting tenure and making other professional development decisions.
The bill also would reinstate a previously repealed merit pay system.
“Positive results and improved student outcomes should certainly be part of the discussion when schools make personnel decisions,” Damoose said. “We should be rewarding good teachers who have shown they can make a difference in their students’ lives and working hard to keep them in their positions.”
Other bills in the package would restore the provision allowing third graders to be retained if they are not reading at a proficient level after that requirement was repealed last term, add alternatives to the Michigan Merit Curriculum to allow students to pursue paths that better match their interests and skills and reinstate the A-F grading scale for individual schools so parents have an easy-to-understand tool to evaluate how their children’s schools are performing.
“We need to start looking at actual fixes to Michigan’s education policy rather than just growing the K-12 budget with no accountability,” Damoose said. “These bills address many of the core issues that are allowing students to fall behind and forcing good teachers out of the profession.”
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