Still undeterred, reformers introduced a pilot programme known as the Texas educator excellence grant in the 2005-06 school year.
There exist models of educational excellence in other nations and in our own based on cooperation and support among educators, where tests and other forms of assessment are used by teachers to develop strategies that enhance children's learning, not to reward or punish teachers.
Similarly, a DoGooder Spotlight exemplifies the same philosophy of rejecting the status quo and shaking up education policy through Educators 4 Excellence.
Starting last week, I began highlighting the responses of the two run-off candidates -- Alex Candto-Pearl and current President Warren Fletcher -- as well as perspectives from our members at Educators 4 Excellence, and community leaders working toward education justice.
In the spirit of democracy -- which fuels many of us to teach in the first place -- I'll be highlighting the key perspectives and differences from our presidential candidates, our members at Educators 4 Excellence, and key civil rights groups working toward educational justice.
Knickerbocker also represents Educators 4 Excellence, which calls itself an "independent voice for educators" made up of former and current public school teachers who oppose seniority-based firing.
He is a member of Educators 4 Excellence, a group of current and former teachers, mostly young, who oppose seniority-based layoffs.
The three teachers in the Education Reform Now ad are part of Educators 4 Excellence, said Kerri Lyon, who handles their account at Knickerbocker and had worked under Mr. Klein at the Education Department's press office.
Last year, she joined Educators 4 Excellence, a group of teachers who advocate for merit-based pay, an evaluation system that takes into account students' test scores, and the strengthening of tenure requirements.
"If you have a number of job opportunities, as many of us did, and you have a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that you could lose this job really quickly," he asked, "why would anyone want to go into that?" He joined a group created recently by other young teachers, Educators for Excellence, to lobby against seniority rules, taking on their own union.
Educators 4 Excellence teachers decided they disagreed about seniority being the best system.
