Appeals court turns down teachers in evaluation case

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

A federal appeals court has turned down a request to reconsider a decision upholding a controversial Florida law that tied teacher evaluations to student performance. A three-judge panel of the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order Wednesday rejecting the request from teachers unions and individual educators. The court last month upheld the law --- dubbed the "Student Success Act" --- saying it did not violate constitutional rights for the state or a school district to base part of a teacher's evaluation on tests that the teacher's students took in other subjects or on tests taken by children not taught by that teacher. That prompted the plaintiffs in the case to file a motion for rehearing, contending that the court misconstrued an attorney's argument and that part of the ruling was "built entirely on a false factual premise." A U.S. district judge also ruled against the plaintiffs in the case, which was filed against the State Board of Education and three school districts.