Group will continue to oppose teacher-evaluation amendment

With a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution tying teacher evaluations to student test performance remaining on the Nov. 4 ballot, a local not-for-profit group, No On 3, is moving forward with plans to defeat it.

Teachgreat.org, the group leading Amendment 3, issued a statement Tuesday saying it had decided not to continue advocating for the initiative. One of the group's supporters is retired financial executive Rex Sinquefield of St. Louis.

During a meeting Wednesday in the Geraldine Fitzgerald Hirsch Room of the Cape Girardeau Public Library, No On 3 members asked for volunteers to help stop the amendment from passing. About 20 people attended.

"We're trying to get the word out to as many people as we can to let people know what's going on," No On 3 treasurer David Larson said. In his mind, Larson said, the teachers are part of the community, and the community should have the teachers' backs.

Becky Stein, assessment and curriculum coordinator at Nell Holcomb R-IV School District, said tenure does not guarantee a teacher's job but gives them due process.

Stein and other educators attending said administrators evaluate teachers regularly on a scheduled and unscheduled basis.

Mark Cook, a retired principal in the Cape Girardeau School District, said the amendment might cause a lot of good people not to choose teaching as a career.

Larson went through what he said are the cons of Amendment 3, such as:

* It would be an unfunded mandate on school districts.

* It could stop or delay funding to school districts.

* It would interfere with the parent, teacher and administrators' relationship.

"That's one of those relationships that, in my mind, is pretty sacred," Larson said.

More than 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation would be based on student test results in subjects such as science and English. But having to test in areas such as art, shop and agriculture classes would more difficult, Larson has said.

He added the amendment would impact residents by:

* Constitutionally mandating teacher evaluation systems.

* Constitutionally interfering with employment contracts.

* And moving control of school districts to the state level.

Plans to defeat the initiative encompass public affairs, including writing letters to the editor at newspapers statewide; writing blurbs to Speak Out; keeping up with what's in the newspaper; and keeping an eye on anything in favor of Amendment 3; social media, such as Facebook and Twitter; random canvassing, which would involve placing handbills on cars and door hangers on doors; and targeted canvassing, where certain counties in the 8th Congressional District would be targeted based on population to get out the vote.

Larson said people could bolster the effort by helping out in different strategic areas, writing their own letters to the editor or making financial donations.

Kate Casas, spokeswoman for Teachgreat.org, said Wednesday the group has been conducting surveys during the past few weeks and made the decision to pull back for more time to educate Missouri voters about Amendment 3.

As said in the Teachgreat.org statement issued Tuesday, Casas said her group, like the rest of Missouri, will wait to see what the results are.

The amendment has also drawn fire from Protect Our Local Schools, a statewide coalition of parents, teachers, principals, superintendents and school boards, and legal action.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

711 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, Mo.