Just a heads up: The NYT Sunday magazine has a story this week about education reform and the tension between it and teachers’ unions.
Memphis is actually on the forefront of these reforms, winning money from the Gates Foundation and being part of Tennessee’s $500-million-winning Race to the Top application.
In the story, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen is cited as pushing legislation that made student test scores 50 percent of annual teacher evaluations, something critical for Race to the Top.
“Bredesen points to an earlier development in his state, that, he says, had ‘broken the ice.’ In 2009, the Gates foundation provided a $90 million grant to the Memphis school system — the state’s largest — on the condition that teachers there allow 35 percent of their performance ratings to be based on student test scores.”
