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Monday, January 9, 2012

UFT appeals directly to parents in teacher evaluation showdown | GothamSchools

UFT appeals directly to parents in teacher evaluation showdown | GothamSchools:

UFT appeals directly to parents in teacher evaluation showdown

UFT President Michael Mulgrew wants parents to know that he doesn’t mind if new teacher evaluations cause some teachers to leave their jobs.

Ever since negotiations over teacher evaluations fell apart during winter break, Mulgrew has taken fire for costing the city federal funding and opposing changes that could make teachers easier to fire.

But in a full-page advertisement that appears in today’s New York Daily News, titled “An Open Letter to New York City Parents,” Mulgrew argues that evaluations that are conceived and executed according to the union’s specifications would indeed usher teachers “who cannot succeed” out of the profession.

More than that, he argues, better evaluations would help struggling teachers get the support they need to stay in


Only sign of school bus strike threat: Illicitly used MetroCards

The “strong possibility” of a school bus strike that the city raised the alarm about back in November hasn’t come to pass. But it has still caused a headache at the Department of Education.

A message sent to principals last week noted that MetroCards distributed to schools at the time were being used, even though they were meant to be handed out only in the case of a bus strike.

Those MetroCards were disabled last week and the city asked principals, perhaps quixotically, to collect the