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When New York City officials launched a big shakeup in reading instruction three years ago, they had a key ally at their side: the city’s teachers union.
Now, shortly after a plunge in reading scores, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew is threatening to drop the union’s support of the curriculum overhaul.
That could complicate Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plans to expand the initiative, known as NYC Reads.
“The Department of Ed. is completely incompetent and irresponsible in its implementation, and we are not going to stand by,” the union chief said in an interview, pointing to a series of tasks piling up for teachers as they adopt the curriculum changes. Without reforms, “we’re going to just have to pull our support for it.”
Mulgrew’s criticism of the reading curriculum is the latest point of tension between the union and City Hall. Mamdani recently backtracked on campaign pledges to support a boost in pay for paraprofessionals and swiftly reduce class sizes — both major union priorities.
Mulgrew said he still thinks it is a good idea to require common reading curriculums in all elementary schools instead of giving each principal the authority to pick their own, the biggest shift under NYC Reads. But other burdensome requirements have been layered on top of the mandate, he said.
He criticized the number of student assessments — at least three every year in reading — as excessive. Another point of contention: As of last year, schools must use additional city-approved intervention programs for struggling readers, a major priority of Chancellor Kamar Samuels. Those programs, however, don’t always line up with the reading curriculums, Mulgrew said.
Mulgrew also accused the city of rolling back earlier promises to give teachers flexibility to implement the curriculum at a pace that makes sense for their students and schedule.
An Education Department spokesperson said the union’s claims are untrue, noting there were no changes in the district’s assessment or pacing policies last year. The only change was to require that schools use approved intervention programs, officials said.
Mulgrew’s comments came days after officials revealed that just half the city’s students in grades 3-8 were proficient in reading on the state tests administered in the spring, a decline of 6 percentage points from the year before.
Even as union officials initially blamed the test score decline on flaws with the Education Department’s implementation of NYC Reads, Mulgrew said he does not believe the tests accurately measure student learning. (Some experts have raised questions about whether the unusually large fluctuations reflect problems with the test.)
The reading curriculum overhaul has won mixed reactions from educators. Some have welcomed the changes as long overdue, while others have been frustrated with the programs city officials have required them to use.
Still, Mulgrew’s comments came as a surprise to some teachers.
“What he’s saying is coming out of nowhere,” said Kate Gutwillig, who retired from Manhattan’s P.S. 134 in June.
She agreed with Mulgrew’s criticism that schools are being asked to assess students too often using tools that don’t map well onto the school’s curriculum.
Still, the notion that there were major changes in how NYC Reads was implemented last year “does not ring true to my experience,” she said.
Other observers said it would be a significant blow if the union dropped its support of the initiative, which includes union-supported and city-funded centers that offer training connected to NYC Reads.
“Right now, they are a core implementation partner,” said Evan Stone, CEO of Educators for Excellence, a teacher advocacy group that supports the curriculum changes.
“I don’t think it stops the program” if the union pulls its support, Stone said, noting that the city has pressed ahead with a math curriculum overhaul over the union’s objections. “But it certainly doesn’t make the work easier.”
Alex Zimmerman is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
