ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ

A week after the Legislature abandoned its effort, the Hawaii Board of Education unanimously approved regarding performance evaluations for teachers and principals.

Moments before the vote, Gov. Neil Abercrombie gave a two-minute speech urging the board to pass the policies without hesitation. He was one of several to testify Tuesday, with only the Hawaii State Teachers Association standing in opposition.

“The people of Hawaii expect this board to be able to act without regard for political nuances. That’s what the appointed board is all about,” Abercrombie said. “This is the opportunity for the board to establish itself in the public mind as truly being in charge of education and working with the department to accomplish what is fundamentally necessary for our children in the 21st century.”

The policies provide the framework and give the direction for the Hawaii Department of Education to implement comprehensive evaluation systems. They remain subject to due process provisions of the unions’ bargaining agreements and include grievance procedures.

HSTA Executive Director Al Nagasako said the union is against the policies because teachers should be involved in the process. He noted that contract negotiations have resumed and that is the forum to address the matter.

“I ask that we not put the cart before the horse,” he said. “Give us an opportunity to work it out through our contract and we’d be more than happy to support the policies.”

Board Vice Chair Brian De Lima poked pukas in Nagasako’s argument, asking how he reconciled the language in the policies that specifically mandates teachers to be involved in the evaluation system’s development and implementation.

HSTA is perhaps “misreading the language and intent of what is being proposed,” he said. “I don’t want the public to think that these policies are inconsistent with the provisions that already exist.”

Nagasako said there is concern, for instance, over changing from the three grading scales — satisfactory, marginal and non-satisfactory — contained in the current master agreement to four new ones as the policy recommends.

“I, too, support the intent,” he said. “There is some language in here that we need to hammer out.”

Providing another example, Nagasako said the union would prefer mandatory negotiations of related agreements. The policy says the department “shall consult and confer the evaluation design and may negotiate related agreements with the respective exclusive representatives of employees affected by the evaluation systems.”

In response to his concern, board members pointed to the next sentence in the policy: “In addition, the Department shall involve teachers and principals in the development and improvement of the evaluation systems.”

Interrupting Nagasako at one point, Board Chair Don Horner highlighted the amendments made to the policies at the Human Resources Committee level in response to recommendations from the union.

“We are certainly hearing our teachers,” he said.

The governor said the policies provide support for professional improvement as well as evaluation of performances.

“Collective bargaining of course plays an important role in the implementation of the performance management because the impacts on the personnel must be dealt with,” Abercrombie said. “However, it is the employer’s obligation and responsibility to set expectations to evaluate performance, to provide feedback and support improvement for the employees.”

There has been some speculation the past week over to approve performance evaluation policies without “enabling legislation.”

The Attorney General has reviewed the policies and opined they comply with state law, school officials said.

Hawaii, however, may be the sole state to receive Race to the Top money that does not have a legislated performance evaluation system tied to student growth, House Education Chair Roy Takumi said in an interview last week.

The department tied the federal grant money to the policies in a news release posted minutes after the board meeting ended.

“Cultivating, rewarding, and leveraging effective teaching and leading is a key component of Hawaii’s $75 million Race to the Top plan and the DOE’s Strategic Plan,” the release states.

The governor repeated part of his State of the State address in addressing Race to the Top implications.

“We must continue our focus on our children and students’ performance. We cannot wait any longer,” Abercrombie said in a hurried yet deliberate manner. “We wanted to cross the Race to the Top finish line side by side with the HSTA but make no mistake we’re going to cross that finish line. Our students deserve no less. We cannot take any more time.”

Doug Murata, DOE Human Resources assistant superintendent, assured board member Nancy Budd that “instructionally sensitive” methods will be used to evaluate teachers, including in-class observations, surveys and other data. He said feedback and support would be provided throughout the year.

Among the changes made to the performance evaluation policy was its frequency. After hearing concerns over cost and capability if required to do yearly evaluations, the board amended the policy to require an “annual overall performance rating” for each teacher and principal.

Another change was the plan’s due date. The department will have until May 31, as opposed to April 30, to present to the board a “comprehensive and detailed implementation plan for development and implementation of the new evaluation system.”

Second-year law student Zach Diiono was one of several to testify in support of the policies. He was hopeful the performance evaluation system would be a step toward eliminating the state’s “last in, first out” statute.

Diiono came to Hawaii in 2007 under the program, but lost his job during a round of staff reductions. He said an evaluation system could help management make cuts based on performance, not just seniority.

Under , teachers and principals will be evaluated based on two major components, each counting toward 50 percent of their overall rating.

For teachers, the components are “teacher practice” and “student learning and growth.”

For principals, the measures are “principal leadership practice” and “principal performance,” which is based on school-wide academic learning.

The department last week reached a memorandum of understanding with the Hawaii Government Employees Association to develop a new evaluation system for principals effective next school year.

Meanwhile, the DOE is from 18 schools to 63 schools next school year.

“We want to furnish our educators with timely feedback on their impact on students to improve academic learning, eliminate achievement gaps, and most importantly, ensure all of our high school graduates are ready for college or careers,” Education Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said in the release.