By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

NEW YORK – Most states have appointed boards that regulate ongoing disputes between public employees and units of government.

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And in most states those boards are ridiculously biased in favor of organized labor.

New York is obviously no exception.

On Monday, the New York Public Employment Relations Board ruled that New York City officials must use a mediator and resume discussions with the United Federation of Teachers to determine a new teacher evaluation system for 33 low-performing schools, according to the New York Times.

This is definitely a step in the wrong direction.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent months with union officials try to hammer out the parameters of a meaningful evaluation process that would weed out ineffective teachers. But the union, by it’s nature, opposes any sort of meaningful accountability system for teachers. The two sides failed to reach an agreement by Dec. 31, which meant the city lost $60 million in federal funds that would have been used to improve the 33 failing schools.

So Bloomberg decided to sidestep the union by announcing that 24 of those schools would be targeted for “turnaround,” meaning half of their staff members, including teachers, would be replaced. Under federal guidelines, turnaround schools do not need teacher evaluation systems to qualify for extra funding.

But now the people on the Public Employment Relations Board are throwing a wrench into the works by forcing Bloomberg to continue negotiations with the union over evaluations. That could block the brave plan to close and reopen the 24 “turnaround” schools.

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The UFT is currently suing the city over the “turnarond” plan, and union officials say they  will introduce the PERB decision as evidence in the lawsuit.

“As we plan to tell the court at this week’s hearing, today’s PERB decision is an affirmation that the Department of Education needs to work with the teachers to find a way to improve these schools,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew was quoted as saying.

Congratulations, Mr. Mulgrew. Just as the city was on the verge of making 24 miserable schools more conducive for education, your union managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. That means the schools will probably remain in the failing category, and union teachers who have presided over the failure will probably keep their jobs.