State law change keeps Wisconsin principal evaluations under wraps

Matthew DeFour:

A change in state law creating a new teacher and principal evaluation system also exempts those evaluations from public disclosure, even though the public has previously had access to principal evaluations.

Open government advocates were unaware of the new exemption to the state's open records law, but said the Legislature should revisit the principal evaluation issue.

"I hope that there would be some willingness to reassess this decision," said Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. "There are few issues that matter more to ordinary people than the quality of their children's education. For that reason the evaluations of the top school official, the principal, have traditionally been open, and we think they should stay that way."

Jim Lynch, executive director of the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators, said the group of state education leaders who designed the evaluation system recommended the records exemption in the law based on the purpose of the new system, which is not to compare educators.

"The focus of this is to have assessments meant for organizations to make human resources decisions and for people to learn and grow," Lynch said. "That is done best in a confidential environment."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 7, 2013 1:03 AM
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