Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., has responded to the California Teachers Association’s Web ad proclaiming the current draft of NCLB “imposes new federal mandates that undermine local control and employee rights.”
In a statement e-mailed to me by the press secretary of the House Education and Labor Committee, the chairman says the teachers union got it wrong.
Here’s an extended excerpt:
“The CTA claimed today that the legislation would judge teachers’ performance solely on the basis of their students’ achievement gains, even though the organization knows this isn’t true. Contrary to the CTA’s assertions, the legislation would consider achievement gains along with other measures, like principal and master teacher evaluations. The CTA also wrongly implies that I don’t support things like class size reduction, teacher professional development, and mentoring programs for teachers. I do support those things, which is why they are included in the bipartisan discussion draft of NCLB reauthorization legislation that we have circulated. From the very beginning, I sought the input of teacher organizations to craft the legislation.”
