Oh, John King, You Slay Me (No, I mean seriously. You're going to get me fired, dude. What's up with that?).

It hasn't been what you'd consider a real good day for NYC teachers. The evaluation decision from NYSED is being applauded by the DOE and the press is noting how it doesn't appear to be a UFT win. Here's my favorite tweet on how the press is seeing things in the first few hours:

Mulgrew did all he could do in this wipe-out: Declare victory and go home.
— Andrew Kirtzman (@andrewkirtzman) June 2, 2013

And then there's this one:

I'm not sure if DOE scored a touchdown, but they're certainly spiking the football... Put out list of every stance the UFT failed to get
— Yoav Gonen (@yoavgonen) June 2, 2013

And here's what Leo Casey, who famously 'set the record straight' a year ago had to say on Twitter:

Firing Day At A Charter School seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/charter-school…
— Leo Casey (@LeoECasey) June 1, 2013

Yep!!!!!!! That's my union guys. Just change the subject and talk about Charters! Gotta love it. "Hey, my idea just totally ske-ruuued you, but check out this cool graffiti artist!".

Ah. Leo Casey! Ah, humanity!



Anyway, for me, the real proof that this was a UFT loss is in a different place. In his press release, King wrote:

" There are strong measures to help remove ineffective teachers and principals, but let’s be clear: New York is not going to fire its way to academic success. The key to this plan is the training, support and professional development that must be put in place to help teachers and principals improve their practice.”

And yet, as this chart on Gotham School notes, King ignored the union's demand and set aside zero time for teachers to be trained in the new eval system. For me, there's only one thing that can explain  a soundbyte like "The key to this plan is the training"  while providing no actual training in your decision: New York is going to fire its way to academic success.

I'll be out taking the Taxi Driver's road test tomorrow, but will try to be back to publish something on Monday.


Update: Just to be clear, the Mayor and the DOE are spiking the ball because they know that the UFT doesn't play the spin game that way. Mayor Bloomberg and company know they get a free play with tonight. I think the question is, how will the UFT explain this on Monday?