Principal Brian DeVale on WNYC Opposed Cuomo Plan

We've had our issues with out of control, incompetent, ego-driven, blame the teachers administrators and feel their unbridled power should be controlled-- but not the way Cuomo wants to do it by taking evaluations of teachers out of the hands of people being paid 150K a year.

Among several education reforms tied to an increase in school funding, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a plan that he thought would make teacher evaluations more objective. Many New York City principals told WNYC they were not convinced. Cuomo said in his budget address last month that too many students were performing poorly on state standardized tests, while only a tiny fraction of teachers received low performance ratings. The disconnect was a problem, he argued, and the solution must be found in the ratings given by school principals to their teaching staff....WNYC

On the other hand, so many people have been driven into misery by so many principals I have mixed feelings. The UFT argument in favor of using student outcomes on tests was the claim that principal evaluation is subjective. Now they argue that we need that subjective evaluation -- their heads must be spinning off.

I am ambivalent myself. Not every principal can be like Brian DeVale.

I'm proud to call NYC Principal Brian DeVale, an ed notes reader, a friend and a leading fighter in the war against ed deform. Brian heads the CSA in District 14 and has more fight in him than just about anyone connected to the UFT. I never thought I would say this, but if given a choice between MulGarten and Brian DeVale for UFT leader, we'd be better off with the principal.

Brian DeVale, principal of PS 257 in Brooklyn, isn't shy about criticizing Cuomo's plan. He says the governor sounds like he's "out to fire teachers, plain and simple." (Yasmeen Khan)

http://www.wnyc.org/story/cuomo-plan-cuts-principal-authority-evaluating-teachers/




Brian spoke out against Walcott and Klein and Cathy Black in the past, so this is not new.
Cathie Black at CEC14 - Brian De Vale - YouTube



When Brian was up for principal of PS 257 in the earliest days of the BloomKlein administration, Farina was the Region 8 Supt in charge of District 15 (her old district) and District 14 (my old district) and was very prejudiced against D. 14 and favored her people in D. 15. And it looked like anyone from the old D. 14 admin might be shut out of being appointed principal. After all -- he actually came out of the schools and was not some kid with 3 months of teaching who was heading to the Leadership Academy to be Jack Welshed. According to my sources Farina backed Brian at that time. So I'll chalk one up for her. I'm not a Farina defender but I also want to be fair. She, like Brian, took a stand against the Cuomo plan, something we would not see from her predecessors who would have jumped on it.