LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To aid education, teacher evaluations a must

3/9/2014

In his Feb. 16 Readers’ Forum letter, “Focus on schoolchildren, not teachers,” Toledo Federation of Teachers president Kevin Dalton challenges StudentsFirst’s Ohio’s support of a comprehensive teacher evaluation system linked to student learning.

Mr. Dalton claims that the correct approach to closing the achievement gap would be to close the opportunity gap. We cannot ignore multiple factors that affect Ohio’s students, but his suggestion incorrectly ignores the influence and impact that teachers have on their students.

Research indicates that teacher quality is the single most important factor in school that affects a child’s learning. I’m entering the field of education because I want to make a difference in my community, and I believe we can do better.

The state should redouble its efforts to close student-achievement gaps. A good step would be for Mr. Dalton to support Ohio’s teacher evaluation system.

MATTHEW MAZUR

Ohio Field Coordinator Students First Bowling Green