The long-awaited panel charged with approving at least one acceptable teacher evaluation model that incorporates student data started its significant load of work Tuesday at a meeting in Augusta.

The meeting saw Deputy Education Commissioner Angela Faherty, who will become acting commissioner next week, take an early step into her new leadership role. The gathering also played host to a light spar between Maine Education Association President Chris Galgay and Gov. John Baldacci. And the confab was dominated by questions from panel members on the purpose of their work and the ground rules under which they're operating.

Steve Bowen of the Maine Heritage Policy Center kept close track of the proceedings on his blog Tuesday. He adds some valuable reflections on the process today.

A few of my additions:

• The tiff between Galgay and Baldacci highlighted some interesting irony. The MEA has been uncomfortable all along with the idea of linking teacher evaluations with student achievement data. The union's compromise solution was to put forth this panel with the power to decide which teacher evaluation models would be acceptable for Maine school districts if they decided to use student data as an evaluation element. In Tuesday's exchange, Galgay said teachers were outnumbered on the five-group panel, meaning the union is uncomfortable with the structure of the stakeholder group it championed.

• The level of investment in what the panel is doing is questionable. Susan Campbell, an Augusta school board member and Maine School Boards Association representative on the panel, offered a comment to show it.

"We have to select a model, but no one has to use the model," she said. "What's the point of us selecting it, other than to get some money?"

(And Maine's chances at securing that money -- a Race to the Top award -- are uncertain at best, though Bowen points out that more states are dropping out. He refers us to Andy Smarick of the Fordham Institute, who points out that many of the state dropping out of the Race to the Top's second round are rural. I've asked Education Commissioner Susan Gendron in the past what tells her that Maine has any sort of a remotely viable chance at securing Race to the Top money. Her response: At least one of the Race to the Top award recipients has to be rural. If Maine proves to be among the only rural applicants in the second round, it might prove Gendron a sage.)

• Panel members Tuesday spent some of their time discussing teacher evaluation models. The Obama administration is pushing states and school districts to adopt evaluations for teachers AND principals that incorporate student achievement data. One panel member asked, what do the Teacher Achievement Program and Framework for Teaching models have to say about evaluating administrators? The answer: Not much.

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