Couple his comments with the legislation he pushed and signed:
The law, SEA 1, will require schools to evaluate teachers each year, and base future employment on those evaluations. Teachers who receive marks of “improvement necessary” or “ineffective” will not receive raises.
On July 1, districts that are not locked into current union contracts will adopt merit-based pay systems. Union contracts that specify automatic increases or seniority-based pay will remain in effect, but state law will bar them from being renewed.
The Indiana General Assembly has already passed two other items Daniels pushed this year. Those include an expansion of Indiana charter schools, as well as a voucher program. The latter would allow parents to use public money to send their children to private schools.
Any plan that forces teacher accountability and allows student choice of schools is, if not perfect, much better than what we have now.