Leo Casey to NYC Public School Teachers: My Word Is Not Worth Much Either

Not a day goes by that the actions of the UFT/AFT/Unity Caucus leadership doesn't remind me of the joke about the guy who murders his parents and pleads mercy on the grounds he was an orphan.

I rarely read Edwize, the UFT useless propaganda forum for Leo Casey, who almost never fails to reveal his intellectual dishonesty. I certainly don't read Casey with a full stomach. But I was tipped to this priceless piece titled "Joel Klein To NYC Public School Teachers: My Word Is Worthless"where Casey castigates Joel Klein for lying about the publication of teacher data scores. Casey opens with his first misdirection, taking out the crying towel.

 As part of an agreement between the NYC DoE and the UFT on the then new Teacher Data Initiative [TDI], a “Dear Colleague” letter was sent by Chancellor Klein to all New York City public school teachers in October 2008.

Who co-signed the letter with Klein? Someone named Randi Weingarten.

I'll let Casey go on so I can get this over with and eat. Try not to injure yourself as you roll on the floor with laughter.

 According to the letter, the TDI was to be:

…a new tool to help teachers learn about their own strengths and opportunities for development …The teacher Data Reports are not to be used for evaluation purposes. That is, they won’t be used in tenure determinations or the annual rating process.

Now we all knew that the TDI was a crock and that the assurances Casey and the gang gave the members meant nothing. And they knew it. Klein had so often lied and manipulated every agreement with the UFT people were left thinking: How stupid could people like Casey and Weingarten be? But you know I don't think they are stupid. I think they are Vichyite collaborators. Leo continues to whine:

Klein chose the venues of an letter and an op-ed [to defend his position on releasing the names] because it meant he would not have to answer reporters’ embarrassing questions about his broken promise to NYC public school teachers.

Oh, those broken promises. Is that why Casey is writing on Edwize - so he won't have to answer to his own broken promises? Now comes the best part:

It doesn’t matter that the NYC DoE Teacher Data Reports have been discredited as meaningful measures of student learning: based entirely on state exams found to be invalid by national testing expert and Harvard University Professor Dan Koretz, using an underdeveloped methodology that has as many as 1 in 4 teachers fluctuating from the highest to lowest percentiles year to year, and filled with dirty data that misidentifies the students a teacher has taught, the TDRs are just the latest example of deliberate misinformation from Tweed promulgated solely for political purposes.

&^%%$%##

OK. I just finished smacking my head against the wall. Leo - we always knew this stuff was invalid. BUT YOU SIGNED ON TO TDI ANYWAY. Watch Casey wiggle away by saying the studies came out after they gave the teachers away on a platter.

Try telling me the UFT leadership is not Vichy.

AFTER BURN
Read the Klein/Weingarten letter:

Run, don't walk, to reread my Aug. 24, 2010 post:

Education Notes Online: UFT/AFT: Think Like Vichy

My favorite Vichy moment happened at last October's Delegates Assembly when Mulgrew opposed a resolution in favor of endorsing Bill Thompson for mayor. In a shocking surrender of conscience, he winked that the delegates could vote for ....

AFTER BURN 2
This just came in on the NYCED News Listserve

Marcus Winters of the Manhattan Institute, usually a supporter of any right-wing, hair-brained education idea of the mayor or Klein, says only 41% of the Teacher data reports have at least three years worth of data and are semi-reliable. 

He also recommends only releasing the top 5% and bottom 5% of scorers because of the remaining margin of error.

Already the no. of teachers represented—only 4-8^th grade teachers in English or math – receive these reports.  So now we are talking about far less than 4% of teachers who should be targeted? 

Also, the Mathematica report said that there was a 25-35% chance the worst teachers would be misidentified as the best and vice versa based on these scores; which means that of the 1% or less of teachers whose scores would be released, there would still be up to a 25% chance of getting their ranking wrong. 

Altogether a useless proposition that should be quickly rejected.

Leonie Haimson
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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/