House Bill 2634 was passed out of the Education Committee but with drastic amendments that make it palatable. Here is the reply that Representative Goodman sent today to all those who emailed her while the bill was in committee.

From Jana Goodman
To Ginger Riddle

The education committee recently voted HB 2634 out of committee favorable for passage. The bill was drastically cut and reworked in committee:

• The section on alternative teacher certification was eliminated.
• Multiple measures of student growth and achievement, as determined by the state board, must be used to evaluate teachers.
• The requirement that a teacher rated as "ineffective" must be automatically terminated was removed.
• The current mentor teacher program was reinstated.
• The section that removed evaluations from collective bargaining negotiations was amended.
• The provision placing the burden of proof on the teacher to show effectiveness was removed.

Attached is a copy of the current version of the bill, as amended in committee. The next step is for the bill to be debated in the House Chamber. This is the link to the bill on the Kansas Legislative Information System, so you can follow the bill's status: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/measures/hb2634/

Thank you for your thoughtful input.

Please feel free to contact me at any time.

Representative Jana Goodman
Kansas House District
41410 South Broadway, Leavenworth, Kansas 66048
(913) 547-0565

Get up, dress up, show up, speak up.