Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Lady Teachers Earn Top Marks In Teacher Evaluations
By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 27, 2012
Modified Feb 27, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 27, 2012
Modified Feb 27, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
On Friday the city released its controversial teacher evaluations with the caveat that "The purpose of these reports is not to look at any individual score in isolation ever." So naturally, that is exactly what everyone has done. Now, with a weekend to absorb the data, an interesting fact has emerged. Lady teachers rock.
Of the 18,000-plus fourth- through eighth-grade English and Math teacher evaluations released, just 15 teachers made absolute top marks and of those only one had a Y chromosome. That there would be more women at the top isn't shocking (men make up just 23.7 percent of the city's teacher corps) but it is interesting that the numbers are so skewed towards the ladies. Which gives us all a chance to talk about why many men simply feel uncompelled to teach. "When we do math-teacher studies," Bryan Nelson, of the national group MenTeach told the Post, "we found that the three main reasons men don’t enter or stay in the field is because of stereotypes that men can’t do the work, because of fears of false accusations of harming children and, lastly, low pay."
Meanwhile, after losing a long fight regarding the release of evaluations, the teachers union, the Department of Education and the Bloomberg administration are battening down and preparing for the next step in the fight: Figuring out how to tweak the city's evals to match the ones that Governor Cuomo wants (or risk losing $200 million in aid) before next January. For the union, that pretty much means getting ready for war. Over the weekend Michael Mulgrew, United Federation of Teachers president, told a reporter that "What I’m going to do now is to stop the mayor from doing any further damage to the children of New York City."
In another interview over the weekend, Mulgrew insisted the evaluations should be taken lightly because, y'know, they don't really mean anything to the people who might want to make something of them (as in parents): "The teacher data reports are completely unreliable. And that's one of the reasons we're out here today to show people that it's the schools that count, it's what the parents think and the principals think that counts. And they do not believe that these reports do anything to serve the teachers and their children well."
Tagged
public school
teacher evaluations
teachers
United Federation of Teachers
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Woman whose body was found in Brooklyn garbage can was strangled, medical examiner says
Police hadn't previously ruled the woman's death a homicide, pending the medical examiner ruling.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 13, 2026 at 12:57 p.m. ET
New York Public Radio CEO steps down after 8 months on job
Chief executive Christy Tanner is resigning after just eight months at the helm. New York Public Radio is the parent organization for WNYC and Gothamist.
By
Liam Quigley
News
New York Public Radio CEO steps down after 8 months on job
Chief executive Christy Tanner is resigning after just eight months at the helm. New York Public Radio is the parent organization for WNYC and Gothamist.
By
Liam Quigley
Early Addition: Can't stop the sticker bombers
By
James Ramsay
Cyclist dies in wrong-way crash with an ambulance on Staten Island
By
Brittany Kriegstein
With election 3 weeks away, Hochul and Blakeman to square off in lone NY governor debate
By
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .