The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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February 18, 2006

Mankato working to adopt Q Comp

Nick Hanson

MANKATO — Mankato is seriously considering bringing Q Comp to town.

A committee of 16 people is tackling the issue right now. The committee has already had four meetings, with plans to meet through April.

“We’re talking through what the state law is requiring,” said Bob Ihrig, chair of the Q Comp committee and a teacher at West High. “We’re in the fact-finding process.”

The committee is looking at other districts who already have Q Comp in the process of drafting their own plan.

“We’ve looked at the plans that have been approved,” Ihrig said. “We’ve looked at what they’ve done and added other elements that we see in other districts.”

The teacher evaluation piece of Q Comp is the biggest concern of the committee right now. Each teacher must be evaluated on the same level in order for it to be considered, Ihrig said.

“The teacher evaluation is a big piece of the puzzle, some teachers want to know that they’re going to be observed fairly. There are a lot of questions to be answered there,” he said.

The goal is to have the plan ready by May 1. Then, it will be presented to Mankato teachers for a vote. If they approve, the school board will vote. If the school board is in favor, the Minnesota Department of Education must approve the plan.

Considering it all works out, Q Comp could go into effect in Mankato schools as early as next fall.

“We’re walking into this with eyes wide open. It means additional money for our school district,” Ihrig said. “Now it’s just whether we can create a system that is going to be workable and understandable.”

Mankato Supt. Ed Waltman said he believes a good Q Comp plan would be beneficial to the district.

“The current system does not give us enough to adequately reward teachers,” he said. “We need to reward teacher for their extra efforts.”

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