IN THIS REPORT THE UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS (UFT) ANALYZES SPECIFIC DATA FROM THE CENTER FOR URBAN EDUCATION'S (CUE) NEGATIVE EVALUATION OF NEW YORK CITY'S MORE EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS (MES) PROGRAM AND CHARGES THAT CUE'S CONCLUSIONS ARE INVALID. THE UFT MAINTAINS THAT SINCE 18 OF THE 21 MES WERE FORMER SPECIAL SERVICE (SS) SCHOOLS, CUE SHOULD HAVE USED SS SCHOOL NORMS AS A BASIS OF EVALUATION RATHER THAN STANDARDIZED NATIONAL GROUP NORMS. MOREOVER, CUE INCONSISTENTLY AND UNSCIENTIFICALLY MATCHED 21 MES WITH ONLY EIGHT CONTROL SCHOOLS, AND COMPARED MES STUDENTS WITH STUDENTS IN OPEN-ENROLLMENT SCHOOLS, A HIGHLY MOTIVATED SCHOOL POPULATION. IN ASSESSING THE READING ACHIEVEMENT OF MES STUDENTS AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF CONTROL STUDENTS, CUE USED INVALID TESTS AND IGNORED AVAILABLE READING SCORES WHICH SHOWED THAT THE NON-MES SS STUDENTS HAD GAINED LITTLE IN READING ACHIEVEMENT. UFT FEELS THAT THE READING ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MES STUDENTS CAN BE WITNESSED BY AN ACHIEVEMENT CLOSE TO NATIONAL NORMS IN GRADES FOUR TO SIX. ALSO, IN ARITHMETIC SIXTH-GRADE MES STUDENTS ARE ONLY ONE YEAR BELOW GRADE LEVEL WHEREAS NON-MES SS STUDENTS ARE TWO YEARS BELOW. SINCE MES CHILDREN ENTERED THE PROGRAM WITH A SEVERE EDUCATIONAL RETARDATION, THESE GAINS SHOW GREAT PROGRESS. MOREOVER THE LONGER A STUDENT IS IN AN MES PROGRAM, THE BETTER HIS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. OTHER ASPECTS OF THE CUE REPORT WHICH THE UFT REFUTES INCLUDE EVALUATIONS OF TEACHING TECHNIQUES (PARTICULARLY UFT'S LESSON OBSERVATION CRITERIA), TEACHER AND STUDENT ATTITUDES, SCHOOL CLIMATE, THE EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM, AND SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS. AMONG OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS, UFT SUGGESTS THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION INVESTIGATE IN WHICH SCHOOLS THE MES CONCEPT HAS BEEN MOST EFFECTIVELY IMPLEMENTED. (LB)