City to lose $250 million in teacher evaluation impasse

City to lose $250 million in teacher evaluation impasse

BY RACHEL MONAHAN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Bickering union leaders and city officials have refused to reach an agreement and have cost city school kids hundreds of millions of dollars.

Despite two and half years to come to terms on new teacher evaluations, the officials from the city and union balked when the deadline arrived Thursday and will cost the city $ 250 million in state aide. ‘

If the continue to stall, they could also lose as much as $ 200 million in federal grants.

The union announced the impasse, squarely blaming Mayor Bloomberg for sabotaging the negotiations.

"Last night our negotiators had reached agreement - but Mayor Bloomberg blew the deal up in the early hours today, and despite the involvement of state officials we could not put it back together," United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew said in a statement.

He blamed "intransigence of the Bloomberg administration on key issues" for the blow up.

"Thousands of parents have gotten a lesson this week, as the Mayor's 'my way or the highway' approach has left thousands of schoolchildren stranded at curbs across the city by the school bus strike," Mulgrew added. "That same stubborn attitude on the Mayor's part now means that our schools will suffer a loss of millions of dollars in state aid."

The city did not have an immediate comment but Mayor Bloomberg scheduled a City Hall press conference for this afternoon.

Gov. Cuomo last year imposed a deadline of Thursday that required school districts around the state to agree to new teacher ratings, holding out the incentive of an increase in state aid worth $ 250 million to the city schools.

Another $ 200 million in federal grants for the city are tied to an evaluation deal, as well.

Cuomo warned early on Thursday that he wouldn't allow the city to postpone any further.

"Please hear me - there will be no extensions or exceptions," he said in a statement. "Since we established one of the strongest teacher evaluation models in the nation last year, 98% of school districts have successfully implemented them."

The dispute between the city and the union dates back to 2010 when the Obama administration offered millions of dollars through its Race to the Top program for states to make education reforms including creating tough rating systems for teachers.

New York won $ 700 million in part by overhauling state law in May, 2010, making it possible to rate teachers based on their students' scores on standardized tests and requiring unions and districts to come to terms on the rest of the evaluation.

The test scores proved to be the most controversial element of the new evaluations, but was out of the hands of the city and the union and not what held up the deal between the city and the union.

rmonahan@nydailynews.com