In an effort to send a clear and cohesive message from teachers, the following letter was adapted
from one written to families by teachers at PS 321. Other schools have sent and will be sending
similar letters in a coordinated effort with UFT chapter leaders across district 15. These words 100% represent the sentiment of many teachers at PS29 and other New York schools, and we feel we could not have said it better:
February 26, 2015
Dear PS 29 Families,
It is with heavy hearts that we, the teachers at PS 29, reach out to you to ask for your help.
Governor Cuomo has proposed major changes to teacher evaluations in New York State. We want to let
you know, from a teacher’s perspective, the changes this law could bring to PS 29 – and to our profession – if it passes.
● 50% of a teacher’s rating would be based on state test scores. (Currently it is 20%).
● 35% of a teacher’s rating would be based on the findings of an outside “independent observer” who
will conduct a one time visit to the classroom. (This has never been done before. Currently our
principal and assistant principals’ observations count for 60%).
● 15% of a teacher’s rating would be based on observations by the principal or assistant principals.
The very people who know our work best would have the least input into our evaluation.
● 50% + 35%=85% of our evaluations would be removed from the hands of our community
and placed in the hands of the state.
And then, using these numbers, any teacher who is rated ineffective two years in a row can be fired.
Rebecca might have no say in this.
So what might that do to PS 29? Realistically, many of us could be fired. Every year. And many more of us would be pushed away from the profession we love.
Here’s something parents need to understand. Even though most of our students do just fine on the
standardized tests, this does not mean PS 29 teachers will. Teachers’ ratings are not based on their
students’ raw scores for the year, but whether their students improved from one year to the next. If a student with a ‘3’ gets one fewer question correct in 4th grade than she did in 3rd, that student might not have demonstrated the “added value” their teacher is expected to have instilled. Even though the student has mastered that grade’s content and even though it’s just one question...that teacher might be rated in the bottom percentile of teachers.
That may sound patently absurd.
If Governor Cuomo’s evaluation proposals come to pass, it might start to happen more and more. And if we are rated ineffective as a result two years in a row, we might be fired.
That is why so many schools in NYC spend so much time prepping for the tests. One or two wrong answers can make or break a teacher’s rating.
Faced with these changes, we’ve already been hearing from so many of our colleagues from across the city and state who will be forced to do more test prep. Even when they know that the tests do not give an accurate picture of student learning, or of the effectiveness of teachers. Even though they know teaching to the test is bad teaching. Faced with the reality of the loss of a paycheck – the loss of the career they are building, have built, or want to build – these proposals will push them to teach in ways they know to be counterproductive.That breaks our hearts. But the truth is, faced with the same reality, there are those of us here who would be feeling the very same pressure. Not because we’d want to. We would try to resist. But it is inevitable that if the governor’s proposals go through, all schools will narrow their curriculum to some extent.
And that’s scary. And it breaks our hearts even more. Because we know what we have here. We love what we have— in you, in our students, in all that the PS 29 community represents. The joy that is present—every day, in our school. The value that is placed on intellectual curiosity, on creativity, on the arts. The love of learning that is visible when you enter our building, when you go into classrooms, and when you talk to students and teachers.
The values present in Governor Cuomo’s proposals are antithetical to our own. And they place them at risk.
The numbers are clear: 50% of our value will be six days of tests. 35% of our value will be one day with an independent observer. And 15% of our value will be in evaluation by Rebecca and the assistant principals, those who know us best as educators.
Those are their values.
Our joy, our love of learning, our desire to help students become deep thinkers and problem solvers, our community, our commitment to constantly improving our practice…those are ours.
PS 29 Families: don’t let them take our values away.
We need your help. And we need it now. The education law is folded into the state budget. It goes up for avote before April 1st.
We need you to let your legislators know that you disagree with this plan:
1. Email Governor Cuomo right now at gov.cuomo@chamber.state.ny.us
2. Visit http://www.nyteacherletter.org and sign the letter to let your legislator know you disapprove of the law.
3. Contact your assemblymen. Go to http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem to find their contact
information.
4. Contact your senator. Go to http://senate.state.ny.us/mem to find their contact information. Don’t stop there. Go to their offices and demand attention.
Post this issue on Facebook and tell your friends. Use social media to spread the word. Go to Albany.
Make whatever noise you can.
We need you to come to the PTA meeting on Friday, 2/27, at 8am to learn more–and hear more from
us. What we have together is rare, especially today, when so many schools have succumbed to the pressures of testing. We must not take our school’s joyful community for granted. All that we have- all that we do together-is far too important and far too valuable to be taken away.
Thank you, as always, for your energy, your support, and your inspiring, creative children.
Your Devoted Teachers