Job Performance of 12,000 NYC Teachers to be Made Public

Despite a petition by the United Federation of Teachers to keep teachers’ names private, Justice Cynthia Kern of the Manhattan state Supreme Court has clearly ruled that New York City can now release the ratings of almost 12000 teachers, which has been obtained from a statistical analysis that has been conducted on student test scores.

Earlier, the lawyer who represented the Union, said that the release of this data will not only invade the teacher’s privacy but also expose them to public ridicule, since the data for the statistical analysis were obtained from discredited state tests that are inaccurate and have a sizeable margin of error, and will mislead parents who are looking for reliable information instead.

While Kern does not agree (which her ruling clearly indicated), her stand on this issue is purely based on the fact that the public has the right to this information that will provide them with a clear picture of the job performance of public employees, and in particular, of those in education.

And while these ratings have been based on whether a teacher’s students performed better or worse on their state Math and English tests, the Union considers the methodology used to derive these ratings are flawed, and do not present an accurate picture of the teachers’ job performance.

However, this issue has been given more prominence by five media organizations who have filed for the Freedom of Information Law requesting for these ratings ever since the Los Angeles Times published the information of 6000 teachers in August last year.