OKLAHOMA CITY – The public needs to speak out against proposed Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) changes to the way public schools are graded for the state’s A-F report cards – changes they say would continue to punish schools for things they cannot control, like the ongoing teacher shortage, according to Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Ellen Pogemiller, D-Oklahoma City, are urging Oklahomans.

Last session, Mann coauthored SB 711, which removed chronic absenteeism as an indicator of school quality, because it is a factor that schools have no control over. OSDE has proposed replacing chronic absenteeism with problematic “teacher effectiveness” measures as well as evaluation outcomes.

These would include:

• The percentage of teachers who are certified.

• The percentage of teachers who are “highly qualified,” meaning they’ve taught three years or more.

• The percentage of teachers who receive a good evaluation from their principals.

Mann said those changes would continue to punish schools for factors outside of their control and undermine the use of evaluations to help teachers improve their job performance as they are intended.

“It’s not right to punish schools who are forced to use alternative or emergency certified teachers because there aren’t enough credentialed or highly qualified educators. We’re still in a teacher shortage crisis in Oklahoma, and Superintendent Ryan Walters has done nothing to address it – in fact he’s a large part of the problem,” Mann said. “As to the third change, evaluations are an important tool to help classroom teachers reach their full potential as professional educators, but if those evaluation outcomes are used in a school’s report card, then principals could feel pressured to hand out high reviews to everyone. That is not how we achieve excellence in education.” Pogemiller said it was important for Oklahomans to speak out against the proposed changes.

“Walters’ ESSA criteria highlights a problem he has no intention of solving. Every school in our state wants certified, experienced teachers – penalizing them for shortages without offering real solutions is political theater, not leadership,” Pogemiller said. “It’s important that Oklahomans heed this opportunity to provide public comment. ESSA plans have always been shaped with the support and insight of professional educators and administrators. This is a unilateral move, not a collaborative one.”

The public can review the proposed changes to the A-F grading system, found under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Consolidated State Plan, and submit their comments by the Friday, August 8 deadline at https://oklahoma. gov/education/essaamendment. html.