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Bill seeks to suspend year-end teacher evaluations for this current school year

An empty classroom during the pandemic in Seoul, South Korea.
Liz Schlemmer
/
WUNC
Jakeli Swimmer teaches a Cherokee language and culture class at Robbinsville Elementary School.

A bill has been introduced in the state Senate that would suspend year-end teacher evaluations for this current school year.

Democratic state Senator Dayna Polehanki is the bill's sponsor.

“Definitely during this pandemic, these teachers should not be rated so significantly on student academic growth,” she said.

Current law bases 40 percent of the year end evaluation on student growth.

Polehanki says this is an unreliable and unfair measurement in a pandemic year.

Polehanki has been joined by nine Democratic and two Republican co-sponsors.

Virginia Gordan