Both sides in the city’s pivotal talks over a new teacher evaluation system sent out signals this morning that Thursday’s deadline for a deal, which has at least $250 million in state aid riding on it, will be difficult to reach.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew has requested that the state’s Public Employment Relations Board assign a mediator to help speed up the pace of negotiations.
“We need the assistance of a neutral third party to break the remaining logjams…” Mulgrew said in a statement.
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, a self-described “eternal optimist,” didn’t sound too hopefully about reaching the Jan. 17 deadline either.
On the John Gambling radio show this morning, Walcott was asked twice by a guest host whether he believed the city would get a deal in time to secure the funding.
He answered, “We’ll see what happens with the deadline,” and “I don’t know.”
The deal needs to be not just reached by Thursday, but also approved by the State Education Department – which says it needs time to review what’s likely to be a lengthy submission.
As of yesterday, 95 percent of the state’s nearly 700 school districts had their plans for new teacher evaluation systems approved by SED.