Every day in the business world, evaluations are being performed. If not a formal evaluation to determine an employee’s current performance, there is the everyday evaluation of whether the business itself is meeting the customer’s needs and expectations. If this isn’t being done, your business will not endure.

Governor Christine Gregoire of the state of Washington just mandated a continued failure of our public school system by disallowing such evaluations to take place. For this move, she captured the continued support of the public school teachers and their union representatives according to the latest press release. Once again, the government doesn’t get it.

Governor Gregoire promised the teachers that,  “…she would veto a proposal to force school districts to lay off teachers according to their performance evaluations instead of seniority.”  What???!!!

Oh, so if you actually suck at teaching but you have been here longer than someone who is a great teacher, your job is safe with her. How much sense does that make to you? What private business would follow that logic and survive very long in a competative market? What message are you sending to teachers who have grown tired of putting an effort into their profession and would rather just skate the last ten years, seven months and 92 days of their careers away?

Pay should ALWAYS be attached to performance or you will get just what our public school system and the Mariners have in common: poor performance and mediocrity.