UFT: Teacher Data Reports

Dear Colleagues,

As the Bloomberg era nears its end, we continue to fight against the harmful policies that have taken such a heavy toll on our schools. One of those fights has been against the public release of the error-filled Teacher Data Reports. After using all of our legal efforts and exhausting every avenue possible, the courts have ruled that the TDRs must be made public under the Freedom of Information law.

TDRs are not a credible reflection of teachers’ work in any way. They are riddled with erroneous information — some reports contain the wrong students while others don’t even reflect the right subject area. What’s more, the test scores on which the TDRs are based have since been discredited by the State Education Department. And if that wasn’t enough, experts agree that the value-added formula that the DOE used to analyze testing data is not close to being ready for prime time. In fact, the TDRs were found to be so problematic and so unreliable that the DOE abandoned them altogether in September.

We made all of these arguments and more, but in the end, the courts found that even if the information is heavily flawed, the public has a right to know.

For members with questions or concerns about their own TDRs being made public, we have set up a hotline at             212-510-6366       and an email address at tdrreports@uft.org. UFT representatives will be responding to inquiries during regular business hours starting Friday, Feb. 24 as well as between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 and Sunday, Feb. 26.

Releasing these reports won’t do a thing to improve our schools. On the contrary, the so-called “reformers” will use them to push their own political agendas, including more test prep and teacher bashing, rather than propose any constructive ideas that will actually help children or address the real problems that our school communities face.

Teachers and parents deserve better, and that’s why we will continue to stand in support of one another. We must all speak with one voice, and make sure the public knows that we will continue the hard work of improving the lives of children — that is why we entered this profession, and that is what drives us every day. We won’t let egregious injustices like the TDRs distract us from that important task or the many fights that we will need to wage against the Bloomberg administration and its failed policies.

Thank you for your steadfast dedication to the children of our city.

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew