Teacher Evaluations: Still No Deal

The deadline came and went without an agreement between the Bloomberg Administration and the New York City teacher’s union on a system for evaluating teachers, meaning the city stands to lose up to $450 million in state and federal aid, reports the The New York Times.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and UFT President Michael Mulgrew on Thursday made a final, last-ditch effort toward an agreement, a system for how 75,000 New York City teachers would be rated.

But talks fell apart before the Thursday midnight deadline, which means the city no longer is eligible for the $250 million in education aid from Albany and the $200 million in state and federal grants.

The loss of resources means less money for public schools, more teacher and administrative lay-offs, and the obvious: no system for evaluating teachers.

And without a system, there's no means for separating the good teachers from the bad ones, making the process of elimination not only subjective but also vulnerable to repudiation.

Bloomberg said the deal fell apart close to midnight when the union tried to include a last-minute provision to expire the plan after two years, which the mayor called a “joke,” since it takes at least two years to fire a teacher.

In the midst of the failed negotiations, one side continued to blame the other, offering no indication of a new deal in sight, reported the paper.

“The saddest part is that our students will pay the cost,” said Bloomberg. “I can’t tell you how much this pains me to see this happening.”