NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Education Association lobbyist Jerry Winters says he favors a proposal to close public access to teacher evaluation data because of the lack of confidence many educators have in the new evaluation system.

The measure is headed for a full Senate vote. Sponsors say access to the data should be limited to school officials and not available to the general public.

Winters spoke to reporters on Monday after hearing a presentation from a Tennessee Department of Education official on the implementation of the new evaluation system.

He says the evaluation data should be used between the employer and employee for improvement of teachers and not sensationalized in newspapers.