Las Vegas lawmaker wants test scores nixed from teacher evaluations

LAS VEGAS — Teachers would be evaluated without student test scores taken into account if a bill at the Legislature becomes law.

The bill was sponsored this month by Assemblyman Ozzie Fumo, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The current process means teachers are impacted by situations they cannot control, Fumo, a Las Vegas Democrat, said.

“A lot of teachers expressed to me their concerns about how they were being evaluated,” Fumo said.

Education department Deputy Superintendent Dena Durish said the current system needs to be given a chance to work.

“It is a true reflection of what’s occurring in the classroom,” she said.

Adjustments to the process extended into 2015 and slowed down implementation.

Durish said the department plans to testify against the measure.

“We are confident in the system we currently have,” she said.

Evaluations mainly take into account observations from principals, but also reflect tests and growth.

Theo Small of the Clark County Education Association said he was surprised by Fumo’s proposal. Small is part of a state committee that was working on a bill that would remove test score comparisons while keeping growth data.

“A lot of folks will really want to see the growth,” Small said.

He said the union is opposed to the previous system of evaluating teachers only using observations from principals.

Small said Fumo did not contact the union or the committee regarding his proposal.