NYC Mayor, Union Have Differing Visions Of School Reform

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/5104

NYC Mayor, Union Have Differing Visions Of School Reform - 01/19/07

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg laid out an ambitious plan to lift up the school system, but is the teachers union on board? Jesse Russell has more:

United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten only learned of Mayor Michael Bloomberg school reform plan hours before he gave his yearly state of the city address. In it he outlined a plan that includes a much more rigorous evaluation system for teachers seeking tenure:

: We must do a better job of keeping teachers who are effective instructors and we must continue to give them the support that they need. At the same time we must also make sure that ineffective teachers are not awarded the privilege of tenure and the near life time job security that comes with it.

Weingarten issued a statement following the speech suggesting that Bloomberg had his eye on the wrong target. She said that if the mayor wants to work with the union on teacher quality issues he needs to focus on lowering class size, making safety a priority, and offering educator’s room to build a course tailored to the needs of students. Weingarten said the mayor really can't do anything more for tenure then enforce contractual and statutory rules already on the books. She also said that tenure is important as it prevents incompetent principals from scapegoating teachers.

[rocktivity]

1. You're saying that the mayor worked out this plan with no input from the teachers?

Why?

:shrug:
rocknation