A teachers union embraces reform in New Haven, creating a model for others
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — In the spring of 2011, David Cicarella, the teachers union president here, sat down with a tenured teacher for a difficult discussion. After a warning from his principal the previous November, as well as months of extra support, the teacher had failed to show improvement. The teacher could try to put up a fight, Cicarella explained, but with a failing grade on a performance evaluation, there was little he could do to hang onto his job.“How could you let this happen to me?” replied the teacher, Cicarella recalled. “I pay dues!” Cicarella accepted the curses hurled at him: His union had helped design the new evaluation system and would support its consequences, even if it meant that a teacher with over 15 years of experience would lose his job.
Dave Cicarella & Garth Harries. (Photo by Melissa Bailey/New Haven Independent)
The conversation came as Cicarella ushered his union into new territory with a teacher evaluation that counts