By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org
    
SCRANTON, Penn. – The childishness of the Scranton teachers union apparently knows no bounds.
    
The Scranton Federation of Teachers has been feuding with district leaders over how teachers are evaluated in the classroom.
    
Now comes word that the union is “circulating principal evaluation forms” to teachers in two buildings, with plans to eventually expand the process “to all schools and other administrators,” reports the Times-Tribune.com.
    
The union-provided evaluation forms apparently ask teachers to rank their principal’s performance, based on his or her “visibility” and willingness to “collaborate” with teachers, the Times-Tribune.com reports.
    
It’s unclear what else is on the evaluation form, as SFT leaders are refusing to show the form to the media.
    
SFT officials are also being tight-lipped as to the reasoning behind the sudden effort to rate school leaders, but it seems intended to highlight the union’s dissatisfaction with how teachers are evaluated.
    
Last November, SFT members passed a “no confidence” vote in the district’s leaders over the evaluation process. The union was upset that a group of district administrators were “making unannounced visits to classrooms and critiquing teachers,” reports the Times-Tribune.com.
    
According to the union’s contract, only building principals may evaluate teachers.
    
School officials point out that is impossible, as the district has 900 teachers and only 17 principals. Simple math suggests that few evaluations will be completed if the job is solely left up to principals.
    
Regardless, SFT President Rosemary Boland said last November the union was “disgusted” by the process because teachers were being “treated with no respect.”
    
Observers are left to conclude that the SFT wants to drive home its point about the evaluations by turning the tables on school principals and administrators.
    
Like we said, the whole endeavor is pure childishness.
    
School leaders, however, have responded to the news very gracefully.
    
“School Board President  Sean O’Shea said the board is open to positive and useful suggestions from the union on how to move the district forward and improve education for students,” the news site reports.
     
Even though the SFT is likely doing the evaluations for all the wrong reasons, it does have a point: school principals should be evaluated along with their teaching staff. There’s a growing realization among education reformers that principals play a significant role in student achievement, through managing the teaching staff to establishing the school’s overall culture.
    
Pennsylvania lawmakers have acknowledged as much. The state will implement a principal evaluation system in 2014-15, reports the Times-Tribune.