Voters reject amendment that would require teacher evaluations

Missouri voters have rejected a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would have linked teacher evaluations to student performance and limited tenure protections.

Tuesday’s defeat of Amendment 3 came after education groups led a lopsided fight against the measure and the main sponsor group, Teach Great, stopped campaigning when polling showed lack of public support.

Teach Great had been financed by investment firm founder Rex Sinquefield, Missouri’s largest individual political donor.

The initiative would have required evaluations for teachers to be based largely on objective student performance data.

But some educators said linking high-stakes testing with evaluations that determine pay raises and other incentives could unfairly rate teachers of disadvantaged students, who might test poorly regardless of their teacher.