Teacher’s Union and Department of Education in New York City Stuck in Negotiations

The Jan. 17 deadline is looming for the New York City Department of Education and the city’s teacher union to reach a deal over teacher evaluations, or the city will lose $300 million, which is already budgeted.

A teacher at the Neighborhood Charter School of Harlem instructs her students in October. Teacher evaluations are a major issue in the city, as the union and the city must reach a deal before Jan. 17 or lose $300 million in funding. Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state teacher’s union made a deal in February to evaluate teachers based on student achievement.

More than 600 districts across the state have filed local plans to flesh out the evaluation criteria, and hundreds have been approved by the state Education Department (NYSED).

But New York City’s plan has not been filed yet. The deadline is Jan. 17.

Money from the state—$300 million in grants—is at risk if the negotiations between the city’s Department of Education (DOE) and the city teacher’s union (UFT) miss the deadline.

Yet Michael Mulgrew, president of the union, said in a union meeting late last week that the union is prepared to lose the money “if a new evaluation system does not help teachers help kids,” according to an online record from a union member, James Eterno, who was there.