The teachers union is all in favor of transparency, but apparently if only they can see through the glass.
UFT President Mike Mulgrew and his predecessor, Randi Weingarten, have both lobbied the city to make the Department of Education more open, accessible and accountable.
But on teacher-performance data, the union ceases to favor letting the sunshine in.
Last January, Mulgrew blasted the DOE’s approach to charter schools, saying they should “operate in a transparent and publicly responsible manner.”
Asked how the union’s prior calls for transparency jibe with its current lawsuit to prevent the release of teacher ratings, he said, “There’s a big difference here.”
“Transparency has to be real,” Mulgrew said yesterday. “In terms of the information, we have a responsibility that information that goes out is real and valid. When you send out erroneous information, then all you’re doing is misleading.”
However, the union’s Web site is full of calls for the city and schools to bare information.
Weingarten has echoed the call over the years, in particular when it came to mayoral control of the school system.
She also complained about the department’s unwillingness to be forthcoming about class-size data as it pertained to terms of the union’s contract.
“Part of what’s going on here is a lack of transparency,” she said in 2008.