Lest a $65 million federal grant slip through their fingers, the NYC Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers agreed on teacher evaluations for those at troubled schools. According to the Post, "Under the agreement, teachers at the 33 schools -- all considered 'lowest achieving' -- will use a new state-approved system that rates teachers by four categories: highly effective; effective; developing; and ineffective."
The city and UFT had disagreed about evaluations for the past year, and the state was getting antsy. UFT president Michael Mulgrew said of the deal, "The biggest component [of the grants] is what are we going to do to help a school that needs help," while Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott was happy about the money going towards needy schools.
Of course, this still leaves the question of teacher evaluations at all other schools, which the two side are still battling over, which has sticking points like how much standardized test scores count. Mulgrew told the Post, "Does this mean because of the agreement we are moving towards schoolwide agreement? No, it does not mean that."
Last month, Mayor Bloomberg announced that 4,100 teacher layoffs were averted.
