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Teachers Federation walks out of convention

BUFFALO, N.Y.

Published May 10, 2012 10:08 PM

Walkout, April 27.
WW photo: G. Dunkel

The Buffalo Teachers Federation, joined by some other union locals from Western New York, walked out of the New York State United Teachers convention in protest April 27 when New York State Education Commissioner John King took the podium to answer questions and justify the state’s policies on performance evaluations. More than 2,000 took part in the walkout.

The NYSUT represents all the organized teachers in New York state. It claims 419,000 members. It has lost 17,000 members in the past two years, mainly due to layoffs.

The teachers union has become a convenient target to blame for the deficiencies and failures in education, whether or not they have any responsibility for them. King has rejected three agreements between the BTF and the Buffalo school board over how annual professional performance reviews (APPRs) are to be carried out.

Even if a student has been absent for over 7 weeks, as in Buffalo, where 30 percent of the students fit into this category, King feels that their test results have to be counted in teacher evaluations. King has other requirements that the BTF feels are unclear or even unknown.

After the walkout, one teacher from Westhill School District asked King if he felt he should resign over a series of missteps in the past two years.

At the BTF rally after its walkout, BTF President Phil Rumore said, “What King has done is immoral. He has kept poor kids in Buffalo from getting $5.6 million in federal aid because he is having an argument with their teachers.”

During a brief, unplanned encounter at a local restaurant, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told some NYSUT delegates that the dispute between the BTF and King could cost the school system $50 million if it wasn’t settled by November.

The writer is a NYSUT delegate.