94% of Teachers Rated ‘Effective’ in District Where Schools Got ‘F’ Grades

Is anyone surprised that school district rating
systems for teacher performance are something of a joke? The
Mackinac Center for Public Policy reports that
the Flint Community School District in Michigan rated 94 percent of
its teachers—and 99 percent of its administrators—as “effective” at
their jobs, even though the district contains numerous “F”
schools.

According to Mackinac:

Even when student progress is adjusted for socioeconomic status,
the district’s performance is little better.According to ratings
which do adjust for student backgrounds compiled by the Mackinac
Center for Public Policy, seven Flint schools earned “F” grades, 12
got “C” grades and only one merited an “A” based on data from 2009
to 2012.The Mackinac Center’s high
school and elementary/middle
school report cards provide more detail.

There is an obvious discrepancy when many of the students in
these schools are deficient at reading and math, and yet the people
responsible for educating them are universally praised for their
efforts.

The problem: Michigan’s rating system for teacher and
administrators doesn’t track evaluations to student performance.
Two bills currently under consideration in the state senate would
fix that, however.