Dear Commons Community,
The New York Times is reporting that NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo, the State Assembly and the State Senate have reached an agreement that the disclosure of teacher evaluations will be limited to parents and not to the general public. This is a complete rebuff of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Joel Klein (former NYC schools chancellor) who initiated a program of disclosing teacher evaluations to the public and media based entirely on standardized tests. Under the plan, unveiled by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo “parents will be allowed to see the evaluations of their children’s current teachers, but the public will be allowed to see evaluation data only with the names of the teachers removed. The article quotes the following individuals:
“What happened in New York City had a profound effect on the elected officials,” said Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers. “They said, ‘We don’t want that to happen. That’s wrong.’ The only person I knew who didn’t want it was the mayor.”
Mr. Bloomberg has repeatedly advocated the unfettered release of teacher evaluations.
“I believe that parents have a right to full disclosure when it comes to information about their child’s education, and I am disappointed that this bill falls short of that goal,” he said in a statement. He added, “However, I do appreciate the governor’s insistence that the State Education Department post school data so that parents can analyze how districts perform, and that teacher, principal and school information will be made widely available online.”
Congratulations to state leaders for seeing the damage to productive working relations that Bloomberg’s position on this issue caused last year.
Tony
Adam,
Disagreement especially among colleagues is fine. I agree with you that transparency is healthy for a democracy but I don’t accept the way the New York City public school system evaluates teachers especially with so much emphasis placed on problematic standardized tests. At Hunter College, my teacher evaluations (as well as all of the faculty members) were public knowledge and available in our library but the evaluation instrument used was developed jointly and respectfully by faculty and students. I would also say that the evaluation system was developed in a spirit of mutual trust. This unfortunately is not the spirit that has evolved in the New York City school system. The administration of Joel Klein was antagonistic to teachers and educators and created more a spirit of distrust and at its worst created a climate of teacher bashing. In my opinion, the move to public disclosure of teacher evaluations was not done for constructive reasons but for waging a management-union battle in the tabloids.
I support the right of parents to know about the teachers with whom their children learn including evaluations.
In sum, I believe Albany by limiting public access has sought an appropriate compromise to the issue.
Tony
Tony, in this case I respectfully and completely disagree with you. I find extreme value in the open publication of teaching evaluations; value that far outweighs any negative consequence.
FOIA/FOIL legislation is critical to ensure open and transparent government. I applaud Major Bloomberg’s decision to publicly release teachers evaluations. It’s a shame that Albany acted here.
I would also support the publication of my student and professional observations. The public should know how effectively their money is being spent. It would also force me to be more conscience about my decisions and be a better instructor.
Transparency is key to a successful democracy. This is a step backwards.