Educators For Fair Evaluation

Public school teachers support teacher evaluations and the implementation of a fair and accurate program to determine teacher effectiveness. As educators, we believe that teachers in need of corrective measures should be identified and assisted in order to maintain the highest quality of education possible. We also believe that under no circumstances can we allow our children’s futures to be compromised by political agendas.

The current APPR legislation is not based on any validated research or empirical data, and, as professional educators, we believe that implementation will be detrimental to all educational stakeholders. The harm caused by administering evaluations as currently proposed will be irreparable and felt for generations to come.

We firmly believe this APPR legislation that implements the governor’s teacher evaluation program is not good for public education, teachers or children.

It is therefore resolved that we, the undersigned, urge the New York State United Teachers leadership (NYSUT) to aggressively:

1. Reconsider its currently supported evaluations policy and promote implementation of APPR legislation that allows for consideration of the accurate empirical data based on validated research; and

2. Seek the implementation of a 2-year pilot plan to determine the validity of any program designed to evaluate teacher effectiveness in the classroom; and

3. Determine, together with all stakeholders, whether the pilot plan implemented is an accurate reflection of whether a teacher is in need of remedial measures; and

4. Seek to prohibit publication of composite scores for teachers; and

5. Seek adjustment of the scoring ranges so that test scores cannot solely determine a teacher’s rating; and

6. Seek to provide for student absenteeism as a mitigating factor when considering student test scores in the calculation.

In any matter so important and with such far-reaching consequences, it is imperative that political agendas have no place in the negotiations, as every child deserves a teacher who has been determined effective by a fair and accurate methodology. We request that these considerations be addressed as expeditiously as possible as we believe this is the only way to ensure fairness for all. We thank you for your efforts.