Charter schools in Hawaii are grappling with questions about new teacher evaluation systems that have been implemented in the state, reports the Honolulu Civil Beat.
Part of the confusion is about whether those new teacher evaluations, which were passed by the state board of education in Hawaii last year, apply to charter school teachers or not, the article says.
The policy makes no mention of charter schools explicitly, but charter schools were mentioned in relation to the teacher evaluation policy in Hawaii’s application for a No Child Left Behind exemption submitted to the U.S. Department of Education last year. That document says that charters can choose to implement the state teacher evaluation system or they can create their own, as long as it complies with criteria in the board-approved policy.
However, the policy does not clearly define the criteria that teacher evaluations should meet, say charter school officials.
While some charter school leaders told the Honolulu Civil Beat that they hoped the regulations would provide flexibility for charters, it seems that many merely want clarification to make sure that they are operating within state and federal laws.