HOUSTON—
A proposal by the Houston Independent School District has plenty of people talking.Under the proposal, teachers could be fired for failing to improve student test scores. Teacher evaluations would be tied to their student's progress on standardized tests, such as the TAKS test.
"To me, it's not about job security. You want a teacher to keep their job," Superintendent Terry Grier said.
Gayle Fallon, President of the Houston Federation of Teachers, believes there are legal issues and has made an open records request to learn more.
"They (HISD) have been lying to us. There are teachers that don't even give the test, and you are going to put that on their evaluation?" Fallon said.
Parents we spoke to are split on the issue.
'I wouldn't blame it totally on the teachers, parents need to take responsibility for their own kids lives," said parent Louis Escatell.
"I think it's good ... (students) need to do better on these exams," said parent Rachel Jacobs.
If passed, the new measures would be part of job evaluations starting next year. The district said if a teacher gets a bad score, they would not necessarily be fired right away, but would be offered classes and remediation.
The school board is expected to vote on the proposal Thursday.
