Legislative leaders from both parties were sharply critical this morning of the state Department of Education for “sitting on” problematic teacher-evaluation audit data for six months, before it finally came out through public records requests and suggested extensive problems with the evaluation process. House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said, “We’ve got to stop jerking the teachers around here. We’ve got to have something they can depend on.”

Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, the House minority leader, said, “We’re on the exact same page.”

Bedke said, “We have to have a robust accountability component within the career ladder as per the original plan. So I will be urging our chair of education and that committee to make sure that that is in place. Because remember that by Year 4, that movement on the grid is contingent upon positive evaluations from the evaluation component. And if that’s not ready to go, then we’ve got a problem. These are not insurmountable problems and it’s good that we know these things ahead of time, but that is something that we need to concentrate on.”

Bedke said he doesn't want to hold up teacher raises; he wants the evaluation component fixed and ready to go.