Joseph Del Grosso, the leader of the teachers' union in Newark, New Jersey admits that "some teachers need to go." This union leader is supporting efforts by the school district superintendent to create a performance review system .  Joan Whitlow writes in today's Star-Ledger about these developments.  Here is Joan's telling description of the lowest level of performance: 

    The Tier I teacher, the worst, is someone who does not know the material or the kids, doesn’t seem to care about either and can’t use standard English, much less teach it.

Washington State's teachers' union, by contrast, is refusing to allow the evaluation of teacher performance.  Just this week on Ross Reynolds The Conversation, KUOW, a representative of the WEA stated that the union unequivocably opposes merit or performance pay. Provisions in the basic ed bills moving through the legislature, formerly HB 1410, SB 5444, now modified into HB 2261 and SB 6048, no longer contain provisions which would have tied teacher compensation to performance in the classroom. 

Union leaders in Washington State need to stand up to the plate and act responsibly to allow performance pay programs aimed at improving teachers' classroom performance.  They would do well to follow the lead of Joseph Del Grosso in Newark, New Jersey. 

Liv Finne, Director, Center for Education, Washington Policy Center