UFT, mayor trade blame for teacher evaluation deal impasse

New York City has not submitted a plan to evaluate its public school teachers on the day of the New York state-imposed deadline.

The city stands to lose $450 million in state aid and grants by not reaching an agreement with the union representing 75,000 teachers and submitting an evaluation plan by Thursday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo weighed in on Thursday saying there would be "no extensions or exceptions.

"The remaining districts and their unions have until midnight tonight to do the same or they will forfeit the increase in education aid they have been counting on and both parties will have failed the children they serve," Cuomo said.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew blamed Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the failure to shake on a deal.

"[T]he intransigence of the Bloomberg administration on key issues has made it impossible to reach agreement on a new teacher evaluation system," Mulgrew said in a statement. "It is particularly painful to make this announcement because last night our negotiators had reached agreement -- but Mayor Bloomberg blew the deal up in the early hours today, and despite the involvement of state officials we could not put it back together."

But Bloomberg countered by saying that the union introduced items into the negotiations at the last minute that he believes were designed to kill any potential deal.

Each of the state's nearly 700 school districts was told to submit a plan for how to evaluate teachers by Jan. 17. New York City was one of a handful of districts including Fallsburg, Harrison and Pine Plains that had not turned in a plan by Thursday.

Under state law, 20 percent of the ratings must be based on students' growth on state tests. Another 20 percent must be based on local measures and the remaining 60 percent must include classroom observations and can also include parent or student surveys.

The UFT scheduled a meeting of its Delegates Assembly for Thursday to vote on a plan if there is one.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.