Southeastern Wisconsin Districts Seek to Lead in Accountability

The along with other districts in the area, isn’t waiting for the state to tell them what to do regarding teacher evaluations.

In response to Gov. Scott Walker’s initiative in school accountability, the Waukesha School Board on Wednesday approved joining a consortium of other districts in southeastern Wisconsin to develop a teacher evaluation plan and sharing the fees and expenses for the new plan.

Districts representing about 56,000 students have committed to signing the consortium agreement, with others possible, according to School Superintendent Todd Gray.

“We want a consistent format in the event that the governor or the legislature says everyone has to follow the same format,” Gray said. “We know something along this line is coming from what governor proposed and what DPI is looking at.”

The current list of districts includes Fox Point-Bayside, Franklin, Germantown, Hamilton, Hartland/Lakeside, Kettle Moraine, New Berlin, Norris, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Cudahy, South Milwaukee, Swallow and West Bend school districts. Wauwatosa was also listed as part of the consortium but in fact has not signed on and has sent a letter informing the group that it will not join.

“The idea here is that the format and the structure of evaluations will be consistent across districts and … if there is a mandate, if districts have to use it, this is the one that will be in place,” Gray said.

One of the original contingencies for participating in the program was that costs wouldn’t exceed $13,000 or $1 per pupil but with other districts signing on, the cost for developing the plan is expected to be about between 85 to 90 cents per pupil, according to Gray.

Gray said that this agreement was a good idea even if a mandate isn’t forthcoming from the state.

“Even if nothing is mandated, this is a wonderful opportunity to create what we think is a very solid evaluation system,” he said.

School Board Member Ellen Langill said one concern for her was the possibility of being locked into using the evaluation plan but her concern was alleviated by wording in the agreement that said the consortium oversight committee’s findings are for “informational purposes only and will not be binding upon any of the participating school districts.”

Currently, formal evaluations are done on a three-year cycle for most teachers in the district, with yearly evaluations conducted for all new teachers, teachers on improvement plans or teachers who are new to buildings, Deputy Superintendent Dana Monogue informed the school board.