Teachers in Florida sue state claiming job evaluation system is unfair

By Lyndsey Layton. Teachers in Florida filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday, claiming the state’s new teacher evaluation system is unfair because it partly rates their job performance on test scores of students they don’t know and subjects they don’t teach. The lawsuit — backed by local teachers unions and their parent organization, the National Education Association — marks the first time teachers have brought a legal challenge to new evaluation systems that base compensation and job security on student scores.Filed in U.S. District Court in Gainesville, the complaint names the state education commissioner, the state Board of Education and three school districts. Alice O’Brien, general counsel for the NEA, argued that the Florida evaluation system violates constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. The union is seeking an injunction to halt the system, which the state legislature approved in 2011. Read more...