Bill Upholds Privacy for Educators

ALBANY, N.Y., June 21, 2012 – New York State United Teachers President Richard C. Iannuzzi said today that the privacy bill passed by both houses of the state Legislature accomplishes two important goals: It stops the shameless media exploitation and distortion of evaluation information, and it appropriately keeps teacher personnel records confidential. The governor’s bill also permits parents – and parents only – to request limited composite information concerning their child’s current teacher(s).

Read the NYSUT response HERE.

Bill limiting release of teacher evaluations passes in Albany

The New York State Senate and Assembly on June 21 passed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s bill limiting the release of teacher evaluations to public school parents. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said this bill will help “to prevent the kind of vilification of teachers that resulted from Mayor Bloomberg’s insistence on releasing the misleading and inaccurate Teacher Data Reports.”

Read the UFT response HERE

Republicans agree to governor’s take-it-or-leave-it plan as bill sails through the Senate with a 59-1 vote.

ALBANY — In the end, Gov. Cuomo got his cake with a cherry on top, and ate it, too.

The Legislature on Thursday passed the governor’s compromise plan to restrict the public release of teacher evaluations — what a triumphant Cuomo called “the metaphorical cherry on the cake” of a legislative session for the ages.

After days of uncertainty, Senate Republicans said early in the day — the last of the legislative session — that they would take the take-it-or-leave bill Cuomo introduced late Monday. It requires that evaluation scores be released publicly, with the teachers’ names omitted. Parents will get to see the names, but only for their children’s current teachers.

Mayor Bloomberg wanted full public disclosure — and dispatched members of his administration to lobby the Legislature — but the teachers unions said it struck the right balance between a parent’s right to know and an instructor’s right to privacy.

The bill sailed through the Senate, 59-1, with little debate.

Read the complete article from the Daily News HERE.