(
)
The city teachers union threatened to derail a new evaluation system, claiming school principals have used it to punish teachers before it even started.
But Department of Education officials countered that the teachers union may destroy a carefully negotiated compromise on how student test scores can be used in teacher evaluations based on nothing more than a single allegation.
The fight was sparked by an accusation from United Federation of Teachers Secretary Michael Mendel that a principal had already used student test scores to deem his school’s teachers “ineffective” — a step that could lead to their eventual dismissal.
“Thus far, the UFT has only shared one such example, with its school name hidden,” said DOE spokesman Matthew Mittenthal.“It’s bizarre that the teachers union is getting so upset about the notion that teachers might receive more detailed and thoughtful feedback.”
Thirty-three struggling schools have begun using the new system. All math and reading teachers in grades 4 to 8 are scheduled to use it later this year. Every grade will use it next year.
Still, the final details of the system — part of the state’s school-reform efforts — haven’t been agreed to and now the UFT says the whole deal is at risk.
“We are asking the DOE to immediately CEASE efforts to implement changes in our evaluation sys-tem and send ALL prin-cipals a directive instruct-ing them that . . . they are NOT to implement any changes in the current evaluation system,” Mendel wrote in a letter to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.
He also threatened to pull the plug on the current deal covering the 33 struggling schools that, in order to secure $65 million in federal funding, had gotten clearance to begin using the evaluation tool last month.
“We cannot continue this work if you cannot bring this situation under control,” Mendel threatened.
The new system counts student scores on standardized tests as 40 percent of a teacher’s rating and principal observations and other factors for the rest.
The state teachers union sued this past summer over last-minute changes made to the state regulations.
It won in August, but state officials are appealing.
The state also left details of the system up for negotiation between the city’s union and the DOE — something critics predicted would give the UFT an opening to continue resistance to the policy.
Yesterday, UFT President Michael Mulgrew reiterated the threat to walk away from the table if the DOE doesn’t address the complaints.
“They are ruining what is a wonderful framework to change instructional practices … by making it a compliance mechanism designed by the legal team of the Department of Ed.,” he said.