The following is from a blog post by Linda Hanson, a former WA State PTA President and superlative advocate;

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2012

Half Way Point, Teacher Evaluations

Washington state legislative session is officially at half way point!  Last night at 5pm was the deadline for each chamber to vote on bills to be referred to the other house. Now all bills passed in the Senate move to the House committees and House bills passed move to the Senate committees – and the process begins again.

Today the February forecast will be released, and then we will see budget proposals from the Senate and House. The budget is the largest issue facing the legislators this short session – and remember, no bill is actually dead until Sine Die on March 8th.

Towards the very end of the Senate floor session Senator Rosemary McAuliffe presented the Teacher Evaluation bill, 5895. This bill sets new guidelines for principals in evaluating teachers, and requires teacher feedback in principal evaluations. A great deal of closed door compromising happened yesterday before the bill made it to the floor for debate and vote. Governor Gregoire even attended the floor debate in person – a rare occurrence.

The measure builds on the four-level rating system established two years ago by the Legislature. But this time, the state will offer evaluation templates for school district to choose from instead of having local teachers and administrators design the system.

Now the bill moves to the House – to be heard in education committee hearings before it moves any further in the legislative process.