Patt Morrison, Southern California Public Radio

It started here in Los Angeles last month when the L.A. Times, using data it obtained from the LAUSD, ran its own value-added analysis of teacher performance and then published the results. Now the New York City Department of Education, the biggest school district in the country, said it will release ratings for nearly 12,000 teachers based on student test scores, a move that teachers unions have promised to fight. Just like here in L.A., the New York district decided to release teacher ratings after several news organizations requested data on teacher performance. This furthers the national debate on the evaluation of teachers (and the resulting increases in pay and increased likelihood of firing underperforming teachers) and in the eyes of teachers unions trashes previous agreements that sensitive information on teachers would be kept private. Is this kind of school reform now unstoppable?

Listen to the full interview here.

Guests:

Marty Hittleman, President of the California Federation of Teachers
Ted Mitchell, President of the California State Board of Education; President and CEO of NewSchools Venture Fund, a venture philanthropy firm focused on transforming public education