Challenging the denial of an appeal of an unsatisfactory performance rating

Challenging the denial of an appeal of an unsatisfactory performance rating 
102 AD3d 586

Supreme Court denied a petition seeking to annul the determination by the New York City Board of Education denying an educator’s appeal of an unsatisfactory rating (U-rating) for school year.

The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed the lower court’s ruling, explaining that the educator “failed to show that the U-rating was arbitrary and capricious, or made in bad faith.”

The court noted that detailed observations in reports prepared by the principal and two assistant principals describing the educator's poor performance in class management, engagement of students, and lesson planning provided a rational basis for the U-rating.

Further, said the Appellate Division, the record showed that after the educator received a U-rating at the end of the prior school year and was then provided with a professional development plan at the start of the succeeding school year and, throughout that year, received professional support and had a series of classroom observations by the principal and two assistant principals. Each observation, said the court, was documented by a detailed letter to the educator noting areas of improvement and making specific recommendations for addressing continuing deficiencies.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2013/2013_00418.htm