Panel upset over Fla. teacher evaluation glitches

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — State Board of Education members are bemoaning an embarrassing and damaging to credibility glitch that occurred when Florida released the first results from its new teacher evaluation system.

Meeting Wednesday in Tampa, board members expressed their displeasure over the posting of teacher evaluation results on a web page that was taken down within hours because of errors last week.

The web page was restored the next day after being corrected. But board members said the episode cost the state credibility over the contentious evaluations. Many teachers and their unions oppose the heavy reliance on student test scores.

The panel on Wednesday also endorsed a proposal to eliminate state textbook adoption and called for celebrating Florida's 2011 fourth-graders who came in a close second on an international reading test.