UFT holds protest outside Golden’s office
On Friday, June 1, members of the UFT gathered outside State Sen. Marty Golden’s office to urge Golden to vote in favor of a bill that they contend would improve the system of teacher evaluations that they say currently cripples many New York teachers.
The bill, nicknamed, “Let us teach, let them learn” — the words repeated on yellow and black signs carried by the protesters — allows for school districts and unions to formulate their own systems of evaluation. Currently, New York State mandates that teacher evaluations be tied to scores on standardized tests.
“We’re asking that teachers be given the opportunity to decide if they want state standardized test scores to be part of their evaluation or if they want growth or some other method to determine their performance,” said LeRoy Barr, co-staff director and assistant secretary of the UFT.