Appeals court rules NYC teacher evaluations must be released

Teacher evaluations based on how their students performed on standardized tests must not only be released publicly – but also include their names, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.

The decision came after five media organizations sued to get the information without redactions, which the city teachers’ union argued was an invasion of teachers’ privacy and also sued to block.

The appellate division, however, ruled that the reports are of a “compelling interest to the public.”

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said the union would appeal the decision. He said the evaluations are unreliable because they’re based on flawed methodology and faulty standardized tests.

At stake were the reports for about 12,000 city teachers. The evaluations measure how effective the teacher was in helping the student’s scores improve.

Principals factor the data in when deciding whether a teacher receives tenure.