New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced today that he has signed a law that will require data from teacher evaluations to be posted to the public.
Although the general public will be able to review enough information to determine how their schools is doing, the names of the teachers won’t be readily available. However, parents will be able to know the evaluations of the teachers instructing their children in a given year.
The law was passed by the state Legislature last week.
Teacher’s union officials praised the bill and said it protected the information from being distorted or exploited by the media.
"This law strikes the right balance between a teacher's right to privacy and the parents' and public's right to know," Cuomo said in a statement. "New York's children deserve a top-quality education, and the state's new teacher evaluation system will ensure that teachers and principals are held responsible for student performance. I commend Majority Leader Skelos and Speaker Silver for their work to make sure we could protect our teachers' and principals' privacy, while also ensuring that parents and the public have access to the information they need."
The law goes into effect next year.
The comment by the teachers union is an attempt to put a positive on the lost fight against the union busting Democrats.
I know the union has issues with the evaluations, particularly the way they are being done. At best, the evaluation process is being rushed into place. But as you said, the evaluations were already a done deal. They have been a done deal since the state accepted the federal money. Taking that as a given, I'm just looking at the issue of public access to the information. In that area, they seem to have reached a compromise. That is why I thought your characterization was a tad unfair.