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January 16, 2013

In final hours of teacher eval talks, what they might be thinking

by Philissa Cramer, at 4:43 pm

During the last year, Mayor Bloomberg repeatedly accused the United Federation of Teachers of trying to prevent a new teacher evaluation system from being adopted. At the same time, the union repeatedly questioned whether Bloomberg himself was committed to making a deal on evaluations.

Who was right? As the union and city prepare to emerge from the negotiating room for the last time, we don’t yet know. But what is clear is that each side has strong reasons to make a deal — and strong reasons to let negotiations fail. And our analysis of the incentives at play at the bargaining table suggests that Department of Education officials and the mayor might not always see eye to eye on evaluations.

Here’s why it would make sense for the UFT to leave a deal on the table:

  • Fears about some elements of the evaluation system, particularly its use of volatile “value-added” measures, and perceived abuses by the Department of Education have conspired to turn many teachers off of new evaluations. Some of them are so distressed that they are questioning whether the union’s leadership is making choices that are good for teachers. Union leaders rejected a call by a minority party for a resolution that would require all members to ratify any deal that the UFT struck, but especially with his own election set for just a few months from now, UFT President Michael Mulgrew knows he has to recognize the criticism. His refusal to negotiate until the city hashed out an implementation plan and the union’s call for a mediator this week could appease angry union members, but declining to make a deal at all might satisfy them more.
  • Bloomberg has made no bones about wanting to sign off on an evaluation system that allows weak teachers to be fired. Negotiators working for a mayor with a softer attitude about teachers might push for a different evaluation system. The city is likely to get such a mayor in just a year — and the union’s position would be even stronger if the candidate it endorses occupies City Hall when a new evaluation system is adopted.
  • Another reason to wait until 2014 is that it makes sense for the union to negotiate a deal in conjunction with a new contract, the first time that new evaluations legally must be adopted. A broader set of negotiations could allow the union to extract concessions from the city in exchange for linking test scores to teacher ratings and putting more pressure on teachers to improve. The city said the union has already asked for a limit on school closures and for “economic credits” toward a new contract, but it has argued that those requests are illegal outside of contract negotiations.
  • No one really knows what will happen under a new evaluation system. More teachers could get low ratings, leading to poor public opinion of teachers and forcing the union into defending teachers who score low under a system the union itself agreed to.

On the other hand, the union has many, many reasons to make a deal:

  • The current evaluation system is also completely arbitrary: Principals can issue unsatisfactory ratings for a wide array of reasons and show only minimal evidence. A new system would be more clear, understandable, and transparent — making retaliatory ratings less likely and inappropriately low ratings easier to contest.
  • And uncertainty about the impact of a new evaluation system could cut the other way, too: An untested system — particularly one that the union helped create — could result in good reviews for more teachers.
  • The union knows that most teachers want to be good at their jobs. The current evaluation system does not include any mechanism for helping teachers get better, and principals aren’t held accountable for providing support. Those features have to be built into the new system.
  • Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the union also understands that teachers would be better off, on balance, if some weak teachers are ushered out of the classroom. The union would have more cover for making unpopular concessions if it strikes a deal under Bloomberg than under a future mayor who might be more union-friendly.
  • It’s also possible, though not probable, that the next mayor could be even less willing to play nice with the union. Now that Joe Lhota is on the scene, the prospect of a Democratic mayor in 2014 is less certain than it was a month ago. Even though insiders and polls both see him as a long shot, Lhota could push rhetoric in the race for City Hall rightward and harden other candidates’ lines toward the union.
  • Gov. Andrew Cuomo really, really wants every school district to adopt new teacher evaluations by the deadline he set — and almost all have. Blocking an evaluation deal in New York City would anger Cuomo just in time for the start of the legislative and budget season, when the union has its own agenda it would like to see supported.
  • If the governor makes good on his threat to withhold school aid from districts without evaluation systems, the city could face an education budget gap larger than in almost any other year since the economic recession started. Last-minute budget deals have averted teacher layoffs in the past, but there’s no assurance that the same thing would happen this time, particularly if there’s a perception that the shortfall is the teachers’ fault.
  • And attacks on the union until now would pale in comparison to those sure to be unleashed if teacher evaluation negotiations fail again.
  • Finally, union officials are shrewd, and they know that officials at the Department of Education have an incentive to reach a deal now, while Bloomberg is still in office. More on this in the next section.

The Department of Education? Isn’t that the same as City Hall?

Yes and no. While Bloomberg controls the Department of Education right now, it will continue to exist after he leaves office. That gives officials there a slightly different set of incentives around teacher evaluation talks.

  • When a new mayor takes over the department a year from now, his or her first act is likely to be installing new leadership to push department policy in a new direction. The most obvious reason for department officials to want an agreement is that this might well be their last chance to influence teacher evaluations in the city.
  • But reaching a deal could also prove a lifeline for remaining in the position. As the end of Bloomberg’s term nears, officials in the department are expected to depart for other districts or the private sector. But all signs suggest that some near the top are angling to stay on, throwing themselves into less confrontational policies that are unlikely to yield benefits during the rest of Bloomberg’s term and could even cause a short-term dip in test scores and graduation rates. If the officials show that they can play well with the UFT, a new mayor might be willing to keep them around and let them see the policy changes through.
  • And officials who want to stay on have an added incentive to get a deal done. If a system isn’t adopted now, it will be under a new administration when the city and union negotiate a new contract. A system crafted under those circumstances, again, is likely to be softer than one agreed upon now, so if the officials really want the teacher evaluations they’ve been touting, this is their chance to get them.

Department officials have little incentive to let talks fall through:

  • If there’s any reason for them to walk away without an agreement, it’s that the training, supervision, and development that various components of an evaluation system would take are daunting. The city has not sent principals to state trainings on assessing teachers in non-tested grades and subjects the way other districts have, for example. But the department has invested time, energy, and money in preparing for other elements of new evaluations, and it’s hard to imagine officials being happy to shut or slow that all down.

Bloomberg might not be as bothered by a failure at the bargaining table:

  • The mayor has never kept his disdain for the state’s teacher evaluation law a secret. He sought a more aggressive strategy last year because he said the new law would not lead to more teachers getting fired, and he redoubled that strategy even after he agreed to an appeals process for new evaluations, seemingly resolving a major point of contention between the city and union. He has said repeatedly — even today, just before the state’s deadline —that he will not sign off on an evaluation plan that is not “really evaluate,” or show that some teachers are low-performing.
  • No matter how stringent the agreed-upon evaluation system is, no teacher will be fired because of it under Bloomberg’s watch. Knowing that could make him less interested in being part of putting a new teacher evaluation system on the books.
  • There’s also one big upside to letting a deal fall through: The mayor would get to renew his campaign against the UFT, which he has sometimes seemed to take pleasure in characterizing as a special interest group that does not put children first.
  • And in the last month, for tragic reasons, it has become likely that gun control will be Bloomberg’s enduring legacy. That makes an education win less crucial in his last year as mayor.

But the reasons for Bloomberg to make a deal are powerful, too:

  • After campaigning to be an education mayor, Bloomberg’s education legacy is still not settled, and the specter of lower test scores this spring poses a new threat. Nailing down a new teacher evaluation system would be a coup and allow Bloomberg to leave office with the city firmly at the vanguard of education reform.
  • It could also help him after he leaves office in other ways. Making a deal could put Bloomberg in favor with Cuomo, a potentially significant thing since they both have ambitions beyond their current office.
  • And finally, $250 million is a heck of a lot of money. Bloomberg might be on his way out, but he still has to balance one more budget. Filling an enormous gap would be logistically difficult and politically unpleasant, because some services would almost certainly be cut in the process.

So what’s the bottom line? The union has a lot of reasons to make a deal, but the costs could be high. And Bloomberg has more reasons to let the deadline pass, but the incentives he does have are mighty. We’ll know in the next 24 hours which ideas will win out.

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  • Guest

    Wow – Gotham Schools actually put up something informative not just linked from another author/blogger. 

  • Larry Littlefield

    One reason to make or deal or not to make a deal:  the next Mayor is likely to be willing to simply abandon the idea that teachers have any obligation to do anything in return for union acquiescence in the inevitable cuts in funding and services that will be required.   That will make the $250 million look small.

    I fully expect the pre-Mayoral control modus operandi to re-establish itself, with low expectations (except for charter schools) and low funding (except for the retired).  This whole battle is a distraction from that reality.

    “There’s also one big upside to letting a deal fall through: The mayor would get to renew his campaign against the UFT, which he has sometimes seemed to take pleasure in characterizing as a special interest group that does not put children first.”

    All that dates to the 25/55 deal.

    By the way, the best possible outcome for the next Mayor is for Mayoral control to expire.

  • I noticed that…

    Here’s the $64,000 dollar question:  Of course $250 million is a lot of money, but will it go to the schools, into the classroom and for the children? 

    Or will Bloomberg finish his term in office as the mismanager of school fundings where the necessary allocations never reached the schools, budget cuts were those of 1,001 slashes and the children first funding formula was nothing more than political buzz words that sounded good but he was detached from its true meaning? 

  • wise owl

    Bloomberg  just wants to go out “with a bang”!  The all powerful Oz has spoken!

  • Jaybird

    I must say, this was the most balanced article ever to come from the hands of Ms. Cramer. However, as a teacher, none of the reasons that are mentioned really convinces me to want to agree to any evaluation under Bloomberg. Here are my reasons why: 1) Bloomberg wants to have the ability to fire any and all teachers that he does not like, not just “ineffective ones”. He even said last month that he wants to put “teachers feet to the fire.” 2) The majority of teachers really do not care much for what the public will think of them if an evaluation is not reached. 3) Most teachers already get the help that they need from other colleagues and do not need a new evaluation system to give them assistance from Tweedies who are not educators themselves. 4) The teachers of NYC know that the new evaluation is designed to be a “gotcha system” filled with unannounced visits that will be used in a punitive manner. 4) We want a fair system in place to appeal our ratings. 5) Lastly, the rank and file deserves to know what is in this evaluation system before our union delegates vote to accept it or not. Delegates should be the communicators between the UFT and the rank and file, they are there to form discourse so the interests of the teachers are know.

  • Amapletree

    ” Delegates should be the communicators between the UFT and the rank and file, they are there to form discourse so the interests of the teachers are know.” 

    Jaybird – this is hardly the case in many schools throughout the system.  Many rank and file members WILL NOT have their voice heard as they rightfully should.  I agree with all points – well stated.

  • Pablo Conrad

    Good job on this piece, Philissa Cramer. I’m going to read it again tomorrow night. 

  • BloombergMustGo

    It’s derogatory comments like this, aimed at disparaging teachers, that get you the unpleasant responses you attract. 
    Despite your apparent self-proclaimed omniscience in all matters financial, you are TOTALLY clueless as to the daily professional lives of teachers.  The insinuation that teachers do nothing and are viewed with low expectations just proves how petty you are.

  • Tiredofyou

    Hit the nail right on the head. Insensitive, off topic human being who wouldn’t last one minute in the classroom. As a city planner he certainly is jealous of the teaching profession. 

  • Jaybird

    I realize this is the case and that is why I urge each and every teacher to PERSONALLY speak with their individual school delegate tomorrow and let them know that they should vote “no” to any evaluation that is properly studied by the rank and file. It does not matter if your school delegate is a Unity member, walk right up to that person and let them know how you feel. Your school rep/DA is supposed to represent the best interests of the teachers that they represent. Of course we all know that many delegates are just minions for the UFT waiting to get a paid union job. However, they will bear 100% of the responsibility if this cruddy evaluation deal goes through. Lastly, if it does get signed, do your research and find out how your schools delegate/chapter rep voted. If your rep/delegate voted for the evaluation or did not show up for the vote, you should inform every teacher at your school so harsh blame can be cast on that individual. 

  • Vote NO!

    How  about  if  the  deal  falls  through,  everyone  in  NYC  wins!  Why?  The  APPR  is  an  absolute  disaster!

  • Larry Littlefield

    “The insinuation that teachers do nothing and are viewed with low expectations.” 
    You are putting words in my mouth again, and blaming me for saying what you said again.  

    I said that the next Mayor is likely to abandon the idea that teachers have an OBLIGATION to do nothing.  The majority who do their jobs will still do so, but probably absent teaching materials and equipment, as money is shifted elsewhere.  Those who don’t do much of anything will simply be left alone, because there will be no money to supervise or replace them.

    And there will low expectations of what is the minimum acceptable.  All this stuff about evaluating schools and teachers will go away.  Again for budgetary reasons.

    “Despite your apparent self-proclaimed omniscience in all matters financial, you are TOTALLY clueless as to the daily professional lives of teachers. ”

    I am describing what happened after the fiscal crisis of the 1970s.  It isn’t me making things up.  It is history. The same decisions and deals have been made.  There will be the same consequences.  It has already started.

  • chaz

    Mayor Bloomberg education legacy is unsettled?   His educational legacy is a disaster with flat lined student academic achievement, a ever widening academic achievement gap, and worst of all.  The hiring of Cathie Black.

  • Tiredofyou

    So now Larry your teaching us history but your still insensitive and clueless. No matter what you do we all see thru you and your hidden agenda.

  • BH

    The UFT is on life support.  Will the plug get pulled tomorrow? 

  • Larry Littlefield

    You never say what that agenda is.  What do you think it is?

  • http://nyceducator.com/ NYC Educator

    “A new system would be more clear, understandable, and transparent…”

    That is nothing but opinion, an opinion that is not shared by those of us who have looked closely at VAM. It is nothing short of preposterous to assume that principals whose jobs depend on test scores will not judge teachers on the basis of junk science. While Gotham Schools is certainly free to cheer for junk science, it ought not to present its enthusiasm as demonstrable fact. This is particularly egregious when its conclusion is based on a system that does not, as yet, even exist.

  • wise owl

    I pledge Allegiance to the Flag, of the United States of America.
    And to the Republic, for which it stands.
    One Nation, under God.
    Indivisible, with Liberty and JUSTICE FOR ALL.

     Tonight as I do my grades I ask myself should I pass them all so I will be considered a “Highly Effective Teacher?” Or do I fail who should be failed and be considered  an “Ineffective Teacher?” Well I guess this all depends on tomorrow’s outcome with the new evaluation. Stats and data. Data and Stats. and the band played on….

  • Jdbalthazar

    OMG they already agreed!! It’s over! The UFT is just playing. They’ll ram it through tomorrow!! And we will be dead!

  • Jdbalthazar

    Teachers are sheep, and the Union is making sheep skin boots! The Union and city settled this matter a week ago. So that teachers don’t have to to review the deal, protest, etc. they are waiting until midday tomorrow to settle. The delegate assembly will vote yes, they all want cushy union jobs and to kiss Mulgrews A*#…and we are all screwed!

  • nycdoenuts

    That ‘minority party’ is holding a rally tomorrow at 3:30 in front of UFT headquarters (52 Broadway) to make sure that the delegates who enter the assembly hear the voices of those ‘distressed’ rank and file teachers. Take the 4 or 5 to Wall Street and walk south until you see them. Bring a friend.

    http://morecaucusnyc.org/2013/01/14/rally-to-demand-a-memeber-wide-this-thursday-at-the-uft/

  • WIRED

    “Tonight as I do my grades I ask myself should I pass them all so I will be considered a “Highly Effective Teacher?” Or do I fail who should be failed and be considered an “Ineffective Teacher?”  – Well, I knew it was like this in my school, but glad someone else affirms it!

  • WE WILL NOT BE RUSHED!

    Jaybird, I did exactly that. My school delegate WILL VOTE NO tomorrow if Unity dares to rush the delagates into a vote before they have enogh time to review this deal.

  • Anonymous

    Bloomberg doesn’t understand what he’s doing or saying. He is a dangerous man.

  • 1st and GOAL

    Dude, I made 100K base salary this year, another 15K in per session coaching, and about 4K in the summer.  My .2 gave me a nice additional 20K and I write my own observations because my principal doesn’t speak or write English very well.  Ya gotta love this job, especially teaching Phys. Ed. making about 140K.  Too awesome, best job evaaaaaa!!!!!

  • Guest

    I’m voting NO tomorrow.  We aren’t all sheep…

  • Tiredofyou

    Why are you here on this site and what do you know about the teaching profession? You have never spent one minute as a teacher working with children. I know nothing about being a city planner and truthfully I have no interest in knowing what you earn or what your pension will be. Why then are you consumed with what I earn and what my pension is?
     Are you on any other sites complaining about cops, fireman or any other city workers? You hijack every discussion and talk about what happened in 1970. Most teachers working today had nothing to do with what happened. A different time and very different circumstances.Ill talk about your agenda when you answer some questions that you never answer.You were not successful running for public office and you will not be successful destroying something you know nothing about. On the day all those children were killed all you could talk about was pension enhancements. You are a very petty, insensitive person driven by your hidden agenda. 

  • Mshoichet1

    So you are not a teacher, and just a doe shill. Not a uft member

  • Indigo112

    How does our union dare sign onto the evaluations without raises? If give this up, we have no leverage! Other school districts got raises in return to agreeing, like Yonkers…if our Union gives this up without a raise…

  • A.S.Neill

     um…no doubt your principal also has a green card and is an immigrant from the DOE Foreign Principals Academy. And you I think are from the Actor’s Studio. Or at least you were before you flunked personification. Try used car sales, they have some openings I think.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/36URMCWY2MFJCKYW345PDTCHHA David

    The issue seems to me to that both sides have forgotten that our profession’s goal ought to be to advance teaching in a way that most consistently improves learning.  NYS and the DOE have added too much into the eval system and unions fight for items/teachers who need to go away.  

  • wise owl

    It’s 12:30 am. Do you know where your union delegates are? I’m still up doing my grades. To fail or not to fail that is the question. PASS=Effective teacher and no harassement. FAIL=Ineffective teacher and harassement. Interesting formula that I have here isn’t it? Well my grades are hinging on actually today’s decision: the big January 17th one. I guess I should wait out the decision before I enter my grades. I don’t give a “HOOT” if the new evaluation ever gets passed and as a matter of fact I hope it doesn’t. Look what time it is and I’m still up agonizing over grades. Is the mayor agonizing over me? No he’s long asleep, with pay! Is any other teacher up at this time? I should call myself, “Night Owl” instead of wise owl.

  • wise owl

    God Bless America and good night! I had enough of this crap!

  • Pogue

     Most teachers “go away” in the first couple of years of teaching, (especially TFAers), those who remain are approved by the principal they work for, if a teacher is having trouble then help should be offered by the administration, if there is still a problem then a process is already in place for that principal to use to direct a teacher to another career…it is called due process.

    P.S. And, don’t think for a minute that a teacher rated “S” for many years of his/her career has suddenly become a “U” teacher.  That was a formula created by the “divide and confuse and conquer” school-closing policy of Bloomberg and the DOE.

  • Kredhook121

    You may not be a sheep.  But I’ve attended enough DA meetings to know most are.

  • TalkToYourRepToday

    To every teacher in NYC: TALK TO YOUR SCHOOL’S DELEGATE/UFT REP TODAY! Tell them to vote “No” to any evaluation that sell’s it’s members out or does not let the rank and file having a say in the matter. Let your school’s delegate/UFT rep know that you will hold them personally responsible if they vote for this evaluation plan or if they do not attend they will be held just as guilty. Every teacher must talk to your school’s delegate/rep today!

  • smh_over_education2day

    We never have union meetings to discuss the issues that may jeopardize our jobs or issues that we face on a day to day basis. It is discouraged for fear of retaliation. Thank you for keeping me informed. Our jobs are already being threatened by Danielson’s because “they have set it up so easy to give U-ratings” and “all they have to do is find something.” It doesn’t matter if you are an effective teacher or not, if your administration does not like you or wants to push you out, under this evaluation system they can. The UFT already has a finished prescience at my site… So now what…

  • smh_over_education2day

    *Diminished Presence

  • 2nd and DOWN

    Oh dude you’re the smuck! You missed the boat. How long it
    take you to get to 100k? 25-30 years? I’m not even 30 and I’m pulling that
    already as AP. You shoulda got your admin license 25 years ago and moved to the
    fast train you dumb azzzz. Already
    getting calls about moving on to principal. Seems all they want me to do is write
    up a cool mission statement and cut all the old fat cats. Like you. Then I hire
    2 newbies who do whatever I say.  

    Hey, where’s that school you’re working? I think we’re gonna
    meet up soon! Bye bye. For you.

     

  • 1st and GOAL

    Not even 30 and an AP. that means you’re a kiss ass cornball with no life. You run around all day doing observations, you’re staff laughs at you cause you’re clueless, and the only women u hook up with are 20 something yr olds at your workplace who aren’t tenured.
    Dude, you’re gonna run around like an ass and work 12 months out of the year and stay till 7 pm for the rest of your life. Your CSA union SUXX and to get “rid” of me, you’d have to get rid of the 4 other Phys Ed dopes under me.
    You have no clue what your talking about and you’ll probably vote for Quinn because you’re secretly gay.

  • Lynn3265

    chaz you da man…please tell me when we get rid of the bloomydoe policies…how long will it take to undo the crap he has created….whadda azz

  • Lynn3265

    Look people. all this conversation is due to the bloomdoe and his cronies….Just think about it members, just about every other district in New York has submitted evals….does that tell you about this mayor and proof in the pudding, every other city agency has not renewed their contracts with bloomy cause there waiting for the NEW MAYOR PEOPLE…WAIT IT OUT…THIS BLOOMBIRD DOES NOT NEGIOTIATE…THE CLOWN ONLY WANTS WHAT HE WANTS….HOLD OUT WAIT FOR THOMPSON TO TAKE OFFICE

  • Larry Littlefield

    “You hijack every discussion and talk about what happened in 1970.”

    In 2008.  Being paid for in 2013.  So what is the hidden agenda?

  • T5yuir

    You just gave a reason why academic teachers should make more on base salary than phys ed teachers. I have never heard of a network person coming to observe a phys ed teacher. When these people come in they observe academic teachers

  • T5yuir

    I bet you were a U rated teacher

  • Michael Fiorillo

    I don’t think Mr. Littlefield’s comments mask a hidden agenda. I think his agenda is pretty clear: deflect attention away from the class conflict basis of attacks on pensions – namely, purposefully underfunding them while cutting taxes for business and the wealthy, and using the resulting deficits as a political weapon to attack public sector unions, with the ultimate intention of eliminating them altogether – and misdirect the discussion to inter-generational warfare.

    This technique is in use everywhere: it’s part of the foundation of TFA, E$E, as well as business-funded groups seeking to undermine/privatize Social Security and Medicare.

    These people cannot be argued with, so I’d recommend responding to Littlefield with the sound of crickets. They are either too obsessive, or too well-funded by their masters. They can only be fought, discredited and defeated, so that their nasty opportunism cannot harm others.

  • Flerp

    Please.  Larry’s been calling attention to the underfunding of public employee pensions for many years.  One of the popular rejoinders to his posts here (second to personal attacks, of course) is that he *overstates* the problems in the NYC pension funds.

  • Larry Littlefield

    With regard to class conflict, the rich and pensions, I wrote about it in this post.

    http://www.r8ny.com/blog/larry_littlefield/point_of_intersection_between_the_years_in_retirement_rich_and_the_bonus_rich.html

    First paragraph: 

    “Reviewing the economic history of the past 35 years, one finds that two groups of people are getting richer: the executives who sit on each other’s boards and vote each other a rising share of private sector income, and the retired, particularly retired public employees and those approaching retirement, who control state and local government. Everyone else is getting poorer, a trend that has been covered up first by having a higher share of family members in the workforce, then by taking away their future income when they themselves reach old age, which doesn’t affect their current spending, and then by debt. There is, in other words, the executive class, the political and politically organized class, and the serfs, with the latter including members of generations born after 1955 or so in the former middle class. The point of intersection between the two advantaged groups is the projected rate of return for public employee pension funds, and the Wall Street firms that manage them.”

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