This post was written by Viri Pettersen, president of the Rockville Centre Teachers Association: The First Amendment to the US Constitution addresses our right to freedom of speech. As such, I was happy last summer to see a letter generated by a colleague, South Side High School Principal Carol Burris, on the topic of Principal [...]

Update at 4:34 p.m. NYSUT has issued a press release condemning the publication of teacher ratings in New York City. Here’s an excerpt from NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi: “As we move forward across New York state with a new process for teacher evaluations, NYSUT will vigorously defend the principle that evaluations must remain confidential and not [...]

We’ve filed two updates to our website on teacher evaluation in New York state to specifically address NYSUT’s recent settlement with the State Education Department. First up: an exhaustive listing of answers to your Frequently Asked Questions on the many components of the new evaluation process. NYSUT’s Research and Educational Services team produced the Q&A [...]

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan today commended New York state and its education leaders for agreeing on a teacher/principal evaluation process and said he was no longer concerned about the state’s eligibility for federal Race to the Top dollars. According to the Gotham Schools blog, Duncan “praised the state’s collaboration with NYSUT” and said: “What you [...]

So yesterday, the State Education Department’s appeal of NYSUT’s court win over teacher evaluation went before the courts. Here’s one rundown and here’s another. And here’s a view from the trenches. Peter DeWitt, an elementary teacher in the Capital Region for 11 years before becoming principal of the Poestenkill Elementary school in 2006, offers this [...]

Hope you all had a super weekend. I did, not because of football though. I am thrilled to see the message of students, their parents and educators getting out. Here’s a link to a Times Union commentary by Fred LeBrun. This will give you a flavor of the column: Clearly, Cuomo has an agenda here. [...]

Of course teachers support evaluations. Teachers have to grade – evaluate – students every day, week, month, year. The interesting thing is, NYSUT and the State Education Dept. were both fully in support of the current Teacher/Principal Evaluation Law when it helped New York state win Race To The Top funding in August 2010. We [...]

It’s not baseball season, but Michael Mulgrew threw his pitch to lawmakers today. Here’s some video so you can hear it for yourself, and pictures of the variety of UFT members and NYSUT officers who met with lawmakers to talk about what schools in New York City need. (Sorry about the lighting in a lot [...]

Before we get to a rehash, first let’s talk about you. By 5:52 p.m. NYSUT members had sent over 5,000 emails to the state Board of Regents. The message was to stop blocking millions in federal funds and let school districts keep the educational support that their students need and deserve. Here’s a link to [...]

Because Monday is going to be busy. Labor and management representatives from many of the 10 districts who had School Improvement Grant funding until the State Education Department yanked it away will give details about what it all means. It starts at 12:30 p.m. on the steps of SED’s building, 89 Washington Ave. A lot of [...]