Sunday, April 08, 2018

NYSUT CONTINUES TO PUSH LEGISLATION TO RETURN TEACHER EVALUATION TO LOCAL DISTRICTS

This came from the weekly NYSUT Leader Update in a section on the state budget:

The enacted budget includes numerous policy initiatives, including labor protections to help mitigate an adverse Janus decision. As the legislative session continues, NYSUT will continue to advocate for statutory changes that will return teacher evaluations to local control without any state mandates.

As state umbrella union NYSUT is doing right by us as they lobby to change the teacher evaluation system up in Albany, we need to put maximum pressure on the largest local within NYSUT, the UFT, to stop trying to defend the current disgusting evaluation system. It looks like Michael Mulgrew is now the main advocate of the current system with its four Danielson observations per year for NYC teachers and junk science student test score results making up our annual ratings.

Our petition is the main way to tell the state and Mulgrew that NY teachers, our friends, our families and other supporters of public education do not want the current evaluation system to continue.

Please get as many people as you know to sign our petition at the right to repeal the NYS teacher evaluation law. We have over 600 signatures so far based on nothing but a push from our little blog and our friends. That is not a bad start. If everyone could convince five more people to sign, we would have something rather big.

We can expand this to make it a real movement with your involvement.

18 comments:

NYCDOEnuts said...

Thanks for sharing this. I would have otherwise missed it.

The use of VAM to evaluate a teacher was first advanced by the leader of our local district, Joel Klein, in 2009-2010. The current DoE has more VA formulas than the state .. literally one for every test. How would returning control to local districts help NYC teachers?

Anonymous said...

Awesome! It is so great to see that NYSUT is making the push to end our evaluation nightmare and bring it back to local control. With the rising up of teacher grass roots groups around the country, now is the time to get a sane evaluation system in place in NYS/NYC. If we can return to a fair evaluation system teacher morale will increase ten fold. Now if only Mulgrew can get on board. He can't hide from us forever.

Anonymous said...

Our enemy is Mulgrew.
Demand his resignation by petition
And threat to not pay UFT dues.

Anonymous said...

I think it is time to rally out in front of UFT headquarters with signs saying how we hate our evaluation system and demand change. They can't hide if we are out front!

James Eterno said...

Simple answer Mr DOEnuts. If 3012-c and 3012-d laws were repealed, evaluation would revert back to the old satisfactory or unsatisfactory system unless something new was negotiated. I think most of us could live with that.

NYCDOEnuts said...

I disagree. I think this district will find a way to make sure VAM stays. I think local district control is bad for the teachers of our particular district.
AND I hope I am wrong!

Anonymous said...

I would love nothing more than to have S/U come back. I taught for over 15 years under that system and never had a problem with it. Now with Danielson, I am holding on at barely "effective". I live in stress every day as I know that tenured teachers have in fact been brought up on incompotence changes via 3020a for having developing ratings. I say bring back S/U!

Anonymous said...

I will take an atr buyout

James Eterno said...

VAM is from the law we are trying to get repealed. If it goes back to the districts, the commissioner's decision that set up our evaluation system is gone. Who wouldn't want that?

Anonymous said...

It's all a crock of shit. How does it make sense that my 8th graders who take Regents science are measured for growth against the 7th grade ELA test?

All I know is I better have a good observation this week, otherwise I'm screwed. #IWantTwoYearsofServiceCredit.

Anonymous said...

All I know is I live in anxiety every single friggin' day over these drive by observations and it is total bullshit. I want TWO observations and end to Danielson. I have faith that this can get done. The time is right. The UFT can pull this off as it is not rocket science. 2 observations like out counterparts in the rest of NYS and and end to Danielson. (Curious as to what rubrics the districts outside of NYC use. Does anybody know how principals go about rating teachers outside of NYS?)

TJL said...

DOENuts has a good point - while the repeal would be huge, as it would eliminate the Commissioner's edict (remember, the current system was not collectively bargained, it was mandated top-down from Albany in order to comply with the Obama administration's RTTT) - local control for us in NYC could be an even worse situation, as our own Union leader supports the system and all the "data-driven" BS as do the district Superintendents.

By all means sign the petition, I did, but we must also be prepared to hold Unity's feet to the fire, including holding dues over their heads if need be, over evaluation.

James Eterno said...

That's the whole point to force Mulgrew to act from below. We have the power but most of us don't even see it.

Anonymous said...

Long Islad Federation of Educators LIFE pressuring NYSUT for the last year. Many locals getting interested. A number have held back dues. A number have amended their constitution to include affiliation votes as needed
James if you want to talk post an email address

Anonymous said...

In other news, my union's national leader is using our dues to support another woke agenda item. I'd feel safer with metal detectors but was never asked.

Teachers Union Threatens Wells Fargo: 'Ditch' NRA or Lose Our Business

James Eterno said...

Email address is right there in the corner. It is iceuft@gmail.com.

Anonymous said...

We need to discuss who is creating and maintaining these formulas. Without getting specific, I think many would be shocked to know the actual process which goes into creating the spreadsheets we see with our teacher ratings. I don’t wish to become a whistleblower, nor do I wish to make unfounded allegations. I simply want the people responsible for looking into this stuff to ask about: 1) who created the spreadsheets. Who developed the formulas 3) who selects comparison cohorts (ccs) 4) how ccs are determined. 5) how and why the cc criteria have changed over time. I’ve looked into this, and I’ve been appalled by what I’ve found. But, I am a teacher, and getting specific here could subject me to retaliation. I hope someone will take the ball here.

Anonymous said...

It would give us someone accountable against whom we could fight.