CONCERNING ENSURING QUALITY INSTRUCTION THROUGH EDUCATOR EFFECTIVENESS (EQUITEE).
SB 10-191 is frequently referred to as the “teacher tenure” bill. The purpose of the bill is to place accountability for student performance on teachers in the classroom. It also creates new accountability standards for school administrators. Under current law, once a teacher has been on the job for three years or more it takes a hearing in front of a judge to terminate the teacher for poor performance. SB 10-191 changes this process to allow termination of a teacher in situations where students in the teacher’s class have underperformed for three consecutive years. The bill also creates a statutory scheme to guide districts in the development of performance standards.
Advocates of the bill, to include myself, feel this is a step in the right direction to give our children the best possible chance to be successful in school. I think (based on personal experience) the vast majority of Colorado teachers are true professionals dedicated to educating our children. Unfortunately, like any profession, there are some who don’t perform to acceptable standards. We owe it to our children to provide tools to administrators and school boards to effectively deal with those who don’t perform to acceptable standards.
Signed into law by the Governor 5/20/10