Alaska's teacher unions are protesting an interesting new state proposal that would require teachers seeking recertification to complete a performance evaluation, a feature of many states which is coming out with an innovative twist. Instead of a live demo of teaching skills, teachers would submit two 45-minute videotapes for evaluation by any one of a hundred or so of their fellow teachers, all trained by the state.

Bill Bjork, president of Alaska's NEA affiliate, called the proposed system "untried and untested…and untenable." Concerned about the possible unfairness of the plan, Bjork added, "We don't believe you can measure these things looking at a videotape," a statement that begs the question, "What things, exactly?" The state intends to base the evaluations on evidence of the states' teaching standards reflected in practice, which strikes us as fair enough, provided the standards are decent. Alaska's Education Commissioner Roger Sampson also pointed out that teachers would be able to choose the videotapes they wished to submit for evaluation.