Release to press of teacher data has become a rallying cry

Public debasing of teachers in N.Y.

N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo may have won the legal battle to base teacher evaluations on student test scores and publish them in the press. But they may have also unwittingly awakened a sleeping giant of a resistance movement. Shades of what happened in Wisconsin in response to Gov. Walker's union busting legislation.

The Times reports that this latest assault on teachers has lit a spark.

In the days leading up to the release of ratings for thousands of New York City public-school teachers on Friday, hundreds of e-mails poured into the in-box of Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers. “Enough of cooperation,” one member of the union wrote to his leader. Others prodded Mr. Mulgrew to stand up against Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, describing him as “untrustworthy,” in what he said was a call to arms of unparalleled intensity.

According to the Times, whatever last bit of hope City Hall had of striking a deal on a new teachers’ contract before the end of Bloomberg’s term "has all but evaporated", with Mulgrew focused instead on who might replace the mayor after the 2013 election.