By Jordan Marks
EAGnews.org

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The bad news is that Memphis City Schools are being forced to lay off 130-150 teachers to balance the district budget.

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The good news is that the layoffs will be based on teacher performance rather than seniority.

That new policy will make it more likely that students will find quality instructors when school opens in the fall.

Area principals identified poor performers based on the teacher evaluation process that was instituted this year, along with three years’ worth of student test data. Nearly 20 percent of the 1,280 teachers were reported to have ranked at either a 1 or 2 on the 5-point evaluation scale, meaning their performance ranked either “below expectations” or “significantly below expectations,” the Associated Press reports.

The newly instituted evaluation model considers four components. Student growth and achievement data comprises fifty percent. Observation of classroom instruction comprises forty percent, while content knowledge comprises five percent. The remaining five percent is determined by stakeholder perception as measured by student and parent surveys.

Teachers are granted rights to contest their evaluation scores, and according to Keith Williams, President of the Memphis Education Association, many did just that.

“We have had 30 to 40 people come over to MEA today because the process is so messed up,” he said.

The new evaluation system is making the best of a bad situation by allowing the school district to get rid of the least effective teachers. It’s far better than the seniority-based method, which was designed to guarantee job security for teachers who perform “significantly below expectation.”