They're Discussing Having Discussions About The Coming Discussion On Teacher Evaluation Discussions

The latest drivel from Karen Magee at NYSUT:

ALBANY—New York State United Teachers president Karen Magee said she has been in talks with the governor's office and both houses of the Legislature about a “moratorium” on using Common Core test scores to evaluate teachers.

“We're still in conversations as the session is winding down on potential modifications we might be able to make,” Magee told Capital on Monday. “That's still out there and on the table. We're keeping the door wide open.”

 ...

Late last month during President Obama's visit to Cooperstown, Cuomo said he hadn't yet begun negotiating changes to the evaluations, which include new Common Core-aligned tests as a factor for some teachers and principals.

“No discussions on it,” he said May 22 during the event at the Baseball Hall of Fame. “I'm open to discussions, but we haven't had any.”

Asked about Cuomo's comments, Magee laughed.

“He and I have had discussions that we need to move forward in that discussion, so if he doesn't exactly say that that's a discussion, that's creative wordsmith-ing,” she said.

Assembly Education Committee chair Catherine Nolan, a Queens Democrat, also said she hasn't been party to conversations about the evaluations.

“I haven't had anybody reach out to me yet, but we're optimistic,” she told Capital on Tuesday after a committee meeting. “Two weeks is a long time in this Legislature.”

Dunno about you, but my reading of another fine education piece by Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY is that Karen Magee is having discussions with herself over the teacher evaluation discussion, since both Cuomo and Nolan say they haven't been part of any discussions over the teacher evaluation discussion.

To my mind, Cuomo probably tacitly agreed to address some minor tweaks to APPR as part of the deal that saw the UFT be part of a union contingent that forced the Working Families Party to put Cuomo on their ballot line.

So perhaps that is what Magee is referencing when she says there have been "discussions that we need to move forward in that discussion."

Or maybe she's as delusional as she sounds in her statements and she's the only one having the discussions about having the discussion around the teacher evaluation discussion.