The introduction of a new statewide teacher evaluation system designed to rate teachers in part on how their students perform on tests is in peril after the state teachers union filed a lawsuit challenging its legality.
The lawsuit, filed yesterday in State Supreme Court in Albany, could signal the end of a period of cooperation between the teachers’ union and state Department of Education that had helped New York bring in nearly $700 million in federal funds through the Race to the Top competition.
The contest required districts and unions to sign agreements on implementing a host of reforms.
But now New York State United Teachers says the evaluation system approved by the Board of Regents in May violates a state law that was approved one year prior — mainly because it allows districts to double the weight given to student achievement on state tests.
The 2010 state law said the tests could count toward 20 percent of a teacher’s rating and other locally-developed assessments would count toward an additional 20 percent.
But the Board of Regents amended that language to say that districts could use state math and reading tests alone to count toward 40 percent of a teachers’ rating — despite questions about the rigor and reliability of those exams in recent years.
“The Regents chose politics over sound educational policy and the cheap way over the right way, doubling down on high-stakes tests of dubious worth,” said NYSUT president Richard Ianuzzi.
He added that the union was committed to helping to develop a new but fair and objective teacher evaluation system.
The lawsuit challenged several other facets of the evaluation system, including its mandate that 40 percent of a teacher’s rating be based on observations and its allowance for the use of independent evaluators.
State Education Department spokesman Jonathan Burman said the new rating system — which was scheduled to go into effect in September — was designed to recognize good teaching, support lagging instruction and help expedite the removal of ineffective teachers.
“It is the critical foundation of all of our efforts to ensure that every classroom is led by a highly effective teacher,” he said in a statement. “We have every confidence that it will be upheld by the courts.”
