Evaluation appeals rules launched

The State Board of Education Wednesday formally launched the process for reviewing and approving the regulations that will govern appeals by teachers who lose non-probationary status under the new state evaluation system.

The proposed rules, intended to implement the requirements of Senate Bill 10-191, would require every district to have an appeals process for teachers who receive two consecutive ineffective or partially effective ratings under the new evaluation system.

The rules also would stipulate that it’s up to the teacher to initiate an appeal and to prove that he or she should be rated effective, that the appeals process should take no more than 90 days, that the decision on an appeal is final and cannot be appealed further and that the final authority on appeals lies with superintendents. The rules propose that superintendents could use panels of other educators to assist in the appeals process.

Read the draft rules here, the letter from the State Council for Educator Effectiveness here and the council’s recommendations here.

The board will have a special meeting on Feb. 24 to review draft rules updated by Department of Education staff and will take another look during the March 7-8 regular meeting. There will be a public hearing during a special meeting on March 30, and the board will vote during its regular meeting April 11-12.

Then the appeals rules go to the legislature, which has to adjourn by May 9.

DPS goes 0-2

The board Wednesday heard two appeals of charter school decisions by the Denver Public Schools.

In the first case, involving a DPS order that the Northwest Academy Charter School stop offering kindergarten and 6th grade, the board voted 4-3 to send the issue back to the Denver school board for reconsideration.

The second case involved the district’s rejection of a charter application by the Monarch Montessori of Denver Charter School. The board voted 6-1 to send that one back to the local board for reconsideration.

The chair against the board

During its usual packed agenda, the board discussed various bills pending in the 2012 legislative session and whether it should take positions on them.

The board voted 6-1 to oppose House Bill 12-1049, which would affirm the right of parents to opt their children out of state tests and forbid the state from calculating no-shows in school ratings, and House Bill 12-1091, which would trim back the number of state tests.

The only no vote on both was Chair Bob Schaffer, R-4th District, a conservative who advocates a pure form of parents’ rights in school choice.

Schaffer got a fair amount of ribbing from his colleagues about siding with Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, author of the two bills. Solano, a liberal retired teacher, and Schaffer probably disagree on most every other education issue.