ALBANY, N.Y. April 2, 2015 — New York State United Teachers President Karen E. Magee today released the following statement in response to Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch's suggestion that high-performing school districts could be exempted from the new teacher evaluation system:
"This is yet another example showing why the governor's toxic education plan is top down and unworkable. Instead of doing everything possible to recruit, support and keep great teachers for students burdened by poverty, he's boxing them in with test and punish. Now the chancellor seems to be floating a 'yacht' evaluation plan for some communities and non-stop testing pressure for the rest. A NYSUT task force made up of education experts and led by NYSUT Vice President Catalina R. Fortino has developed a white paper and model evaluation system that is fair and objective, and aimed at improving teaching and student learning. We stand ready to share our plan with the Regents and work with them to fix this broken system for all students."
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
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