GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Breaking his silence today on New York City’s simmering labor dispute, State Education Commissioner John King sided with the city on key issues.

King said he does not want to get involved in local disputes over teacher evaluations. But he said the city’s plan to revamp dozens of low-performing schools under the federal “turnaround” model meets the state’s requirements.

“It’s an approvable model,” King said on a conference call with reporters to discuss Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state budget proposal. “I would expect that if they submit those applications, that we would approve their application to change the model consistent with the federal model.”

The city’s plan, which Bloomberg announced in his State of the City speech last week as a way to sidestep teacher evaluations talks, would require half of all teachers to be removed from the 33 low-performing schools. King suspended federal funding to the schools last month after negotiations between the city and the United Federation of Teachers broke down.

A major issue leading to the impasse was that the UFT wanted third-party arbitrators to hear the appeals of teachers who receive low ratings under the new evaluations. The city maintains that the chancellor should make the final determination on appeals, as has been the case for years. (more…)