PS 4 Teachers Angered By Their "U" Ratings

In the evaluation process U ratings are meaningless because there are no facts in observations. Nonetheless, careers are ended after a U rating in the senseless destruction of good teaching in NYC.

Teachers at Public School 4 in Crotona balk at having highest rate of unsatisfactory instructors, per report 

Parents shocked that "A" rated school could be home to so many poor teachers

Principal Vincent Resto

 

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BY CORINNE LESTCH / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013, 6:00 AM

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/studentsfirstny-reform-group-issued-report-article-1.1239940#ixzz2I75v4JDJ

Teachers at Public School 4 in Crotona fumed about landing on a list of schools with poorly rated instructors.

Principal Vincent Resto doled out unsatisfactory ratings, dubbed “U-ratings,” to more than a third of the teachers at the K-8 school, according to a recent report from StudentsFirstNY, an education reform group.

“It’s not the teachers, it’s the program we’re asked to teach,” slammed one teacher who admitted he was one of 11 who were branded ‘bad.’

“We’re asked to do the impossible,” the teacher continued. “We’ve had 19 teachers leave since the start of the school year. What does that say? The administration is the problem.”

According to state statistics, the turnover rate of teachers with fewer than five years of experience at the school has climbed to nearly 60% in the 2009-10 academic year.

Another school employee who declined to give her name said teachers are not the problem.

“It’s the principal,” she said. “He’s not very popular among the staff.”

Resto, who started his post in 2007, did not return a request for comment Monday.

Parents were shocked that the A-rated school is filled with bad apples.

According to the same report, nearly 80% of fourth-grade students are proficient in math, and about 70% of eighth-grade students are proficient in math.

JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PS/MS4 was deemed the school in the city with the highest percentage of unqualified teachers. The school has 11 teachers who earned “U” ratings in the 2011-2012 school year.

 

“My daughter always says how wonderful all of her teachers are,” said Altagracia Acosta, whose daughter is in eighth grade. “I feel that they do a great job here.”

Other Bronx schools that fared poorly include Junior High School 22, Fordham High School for the Arts, Fordham Leadership Academy, Banana Kelly High School and Monroe Academy for Business and Law. At each of these schools, about 20% of teachers were slapped with U-ratings.

The poorest areas of the Bronx had schools with the highest concentration of U-rated teachers, according to the report.

The report offers this recommendation: implement a comprehensive teacher evaluation system, though the city and teacher’s union have been at odds about how to effectively rate instructors.

If the stalemate continues past the Jan. 17 deadline, the state will withhold $250 million in funding.

clestch@nydailynews.com