UPDATE 6:05 pm - NEA New Mexico's Charles Goodmacher was in the courtroom late this afternoon and said the judge ruled in favor of the union. We will be following this story as it unfolds. Check back for updates.
***************
A district judge heard arguments Thursday in a case against the Public Education Department. A union representing teachers sued the agency over a mysterious statistic.
The local chapter of the National Education Association, or NEA, asked the agency for all the calculations and documents they used to come up with the percentage of teachers that were rated competent under the old teacher evaluation system. PED said it was 99 percent and that that meant the evaluation system was broken.
The NEA New Mexico lawsuit contends PED was never able to back up that claim on paper.
Charles Goodmacher works with the union.
“Teachers think the system is unfair,” Goodmacher said. “They are being denied the joy of teaching and students are being denied a well rounded education!”
Now, Goodmacher said, the new evaluation system, which relies heavily on student test scores, has teachers leaving the profession in droves.
Other lawsuits challenging PED’s new evaluation system are still pending.
