Bloomberg blast teacher evals as 'sham,' 'fraud'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday blasted new teacher evaluations statewide as "shams" and "a fraud on the public," created to extract school aid, not improve teachers.
He told state legislators that it was irresponsible for them to pass the 2010 law because he said it ties school aid to union approval of local teacher evaluations. He said unions have no incentive to approve effective evaluations and that denying aid only hurts students.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pushed for passage of the law.
Bloomberg and the United Federation of Teachers union failed to agree on a local system to evaluate teachers. The local evaluations aim to identify "unsatisfactory" teachers and provide remedial help to improve instruction.
Failure to meet the Jan. 17 deadline is expected to cost New York City schools $250 million