Ed Emery: Amendment 3 puts power back in the hands of school boards

With school boards all across the state coming out against Amendment 3 because it will take away power from local boards, at least one person, Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, says it will do the exact opposite.

Emery's comments on Amendment 3 were made to the Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce and were reported in the Nevada Daily Mail:

(Emery) said he was also in favor of Amendment 3. He said this was the most controversial of the amendments. Referencing his legislative report that he said he finished prior to attending the luncheon, Amendment 3 "introduces education reforms that the education establishment largely opposes."

He said at the chamber luncheon that the amendment puts the "power back with local school boards" in the evaluation of teacher effectiveness.

The education "reforms" to which Emery refers would eliminate teacher tenure, continuing a movement toward replacing veteran teachers with those just out of school or those from organizations such as Teach for America, and would also require that teachers be evaluated based on student scores on standardized tests.

That, in turn, will require far more testing than what is being done now since many teachers teach classes that are not covered by the current standardized tests.