No longer being graded on a curve

California schools will now be eligible for $4.5 billion in federal funds. Arnold Schwarzenegger has removed the ban that did not allow teachers to be evaluated based on their students' test scores.

Schwarzenegger said in a statement, “The bill represents an important first step in bringing California’s students and schools closer to billions of much needed federal funding. Our work in the Race to the Top of education reform is not done.” He warned that this is just one of the many needed changes before California can competitively apply for grants. 

Some reforms that would help improve the states chances of becoming a better competitor in gaining money are: removing caps on charter schools, improving poorly performing schools, and giving more power to the state in order to intervene in schools that are below the standards.   

Teachers, on the other hand, feel that using student’s test scores to evaluate them is a bad idea. Frank Wells, a member of the teacher’s union says that the scores don’t provide any good information, in fact it can provide some misleading or bad information. There is more to assessing teachers than their students’ test scores. 

The teacher’s union is not in total disagreement on attaching teacher evaluations to students test scores but the union has to be  in full agreement for that to occur. 

This program is intended to help reward states that are actively pursuing education improvements. If that state can prove that their schools are improving, money would be provided to help the schools. 

The ban will help prevent a massive amount of chaos that will occur once teachers are evaluated by their students test scores. Yes, the evaluation will help the state get more funding for their schools, but the information that is being dismissed is that once the money is received, will the money go to the schools that did well on their tests scores or the schools that did poorly? 

If the schools who do well get it, wouldn’t that be unfair to the schools that need the money and the ones that are not up to standards? 

The state has to take into consideration that urban area students do not have the proper support that is needed for a child to do well. Teachers can only help so much; when they go home they have no control in the matter. 

Due to parents in urban areas having to work more to keep a roof above their family’s heads it is hard for them to spend time with their child on school work when they come home. 

Some kids are even lock-key-children who are home by themselves till a parent comes home late at night; children tend to not apply themselves if no one is pushing them to do so. 

The other factor to take into consideration is do urban schools have the proper materials to teach their students, or even a good teacher to students’ ratio?

Evaluation of a teacher is a good idea but not on how well their students score, there are too many factors that need to be taken into account in order for a teacher to be evaluated properly to base it on such a small limiting factor.