The Hamburg (NY) teachers union has refused to agree to a deal on teacher evaluations that would give all power to the superintendent; they want an independent person to make the final judgment when a teacher appeals a bad evaluation.
Negotiations broke down when an administrator threatened that teachers would be fired if no agreement was reached.
Remember that the deal is about getting $450,000 for the district to comply with Race to the Top, which requires that teachers be evaluated by the scores of their students. New York has an evaluation plan whose own designers (AIR) have said is not ready for prime time.
By agreeing, the teachers agree to be judged by a methodology that is JUNK SCIENCE.
Be strong, Hamburg Teachers. Minimize the damage to teachers, and you protect your students and your schools against churn and demoralization.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane — I admire the Hamburg teachers for their courage and for doing what is BEST for children. They see things as they really are and are not intimidated.
Marge Borchert
Everyone, Hamburg teachers would very much appreciate notes of support and comments which shift the narrative back to real learning and real teaching. Comment here: http://buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130115%2FCITYANDREGION%2F130119421%2F1002
That is such mickey mouse money to bought and sold for unless it is a very small school district. All they want you to do is sell yourself to the devil for a minimal buyout. Remember that Obama and Duncan are behind this. Do not forget how you steal money from special education through RTI.
Hamburg teachers are demonstrating the tremendous value of having collective bargaining rights. 80% APPR is supposed to be mutually agreed upon. hamburg teachers are following the letter of that law. It’s a shame that it appears the district’s administration is not.
The new demon to watch is a new junk science tool called Student Growth Percentile, which arbitrarily set a magical percentile that indicates growth. Unfortunately all it does it pit one student against the other. Perfect for a Race to the flawed mentality.
“Student Growth Percentile”
Great another deformer mole to whack!
https://www.facebook.com/SupportHamburgNyTeachers
This page has been created on Facebook to send messages of support and solidarity to the teachers in Hamburg, NY!!