Ohio lawmakers OK revised teacher evaluation rules

COLUMBUS (AP) — Highly rated public school teachers will get fewer state-mandated performance evaluations under a bill that zipped through the Ohio Legislature today after a committee maneuver.

The proposal cleared both the state Senate and House with broad support the same day it was slipped into a fast-moving Senate bill as a way to get needed votes. The measure had cleared the GOP-led Senate in December, but it met resistance among some majority House Republicans.

Republican Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign it.

The surprise maneuver came in the Senate Education Committee, which added most of the earlier legislation to a separate bill and passed it almost unanimously. Senate Education Chairwoman Peggy Lehner said similar language was being removed from a midterm budget bill on education that’s moving toward a compromise vote this week.

The teacher evaluation changes were prompted by educators’ concerns that Ohio’s new evaluation rules requiring more classroom observation sessions, reports and conferences are misdirecting time and energy toward high-performing teachers and placing an undue burden on administrators.