Justice Michael Stallman
Tenured teacher Deutsch sought to annul an unsatisfactory rating (U-rating) he received for the 2010-2011 school year based on three incidents, despite receiving otherwise satisfactory comments in his annual professional performance review and formal classroom observations. The alleged incidents included cursing at the principal, unexcused absence and failure to follow a directive. The Chancellor denied an appeal and sustained the U-rating. Deutsch contended the U-rating was arbitrary and capricious. The court found one incident was taken without regard to the facts, thus the overall U-rating must be evaluated based on two incidents. It found the Department of Education offered no explanation as to why Deutsch, who received otherwise satisfactory comments in his annual performance review, and formal classroom observations, warranted a U-rating for the entire school year. As such, the court stated this lack of an explanation of why the principal exercised his discretion to give Deutsch an overall U-rating under these circumstances rendered the decision arbitrary and capricious, and the rating was so disproportionate to Deutsch’s behavior on several isolated incidents shocked the judicial conscience. Hence, the U-rating was annulled without remand.
