DOE & UFT bid to KO ‘outside’ eyes

The city Department of Education and the teachers union have joined forces to try wriggling out of a new state requirement that instructors be evaluated by outside observers, officials said Wednesday.

Along with the principals union, the DOE and United Federation of Teachers will seek an exemption from the mandate, arguing that it’s an irritating and needless expense.

“The requirement would be costly and place an additional burden on schools and supervisors,” the agency said in a press release.

Chancellor Carmen Fariña, UFT chief Michael Mulgrew and Council of School Supervisors & Administrators President Ernest Logan announced the plan at a joint press conference Wednesday.

Pro-charter school critics pounced on the exemption push, arguing it dilutes already-questionable teacher accountability.

“After burning almost a billion dollars on laughably low goals for improvement in their socalled ‘Renewal’ schools, the mayor and his political allies are now colluding to claim that New York City can’t afford the last of any independent checks to see if kids are actually learning in classrooms,” said Jeremiah Kittredge, CEO of Families for Excellent Schools.

The DOE countered that outsiders can’t measure up to principals when it comes to gauging their staffers.

“We’re focused on the classroom, not playing politics,” said DOE spokeswoman Toya Holness. “Principals know their teachers’ work best, and an outside evaluator would place an additional burden on schools and supervisors without adding any rigor or providing benefits to students.”

The DOE also unveiled a revamped teacher-evaluation system that severs performance assessments from student test scores.

The modified policy comes as a result of new state rules that prohibit reliance on test scores to gauge teachers.