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United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew spends much of his time fighting the Department of Education. Now he's fighting some of his own members as well.

On Wednesday night, the union president met with a group of teachers who are fighting against some of the union's major policies -- calling for changes in how teachers are evaluated and how they'd be laid off.

"I've felt some frustration with my union," said one teacher.

The group Educators 4 Excellence is less than a year old, but has more than 1,300 members. It's funded by the Gates Foundation, and claims to be an independent voice for teachers -- a voice against policies like last in, first out, which requires layoffs to be done by seniority, not merit.

"I feel like a cog in a machine. I feel like a teacher is a teacher and if we're gonna make these layoffs, seniority is a fine way to do it because I'm no different than anyone else. And I feel that that's not true. And I feel that my effectiveness should be taken into account because it's insulting to my profession when it's taken that way," said one teacher.

In his recent State of the City address, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for an overhaul of the seniority system for city teachers when it comes to layoffs. But Mulgrew isn't buying it.

"This union is very clear on the issue of layoffs: there should not be any layoffs," said the union president.

Mulgrew says teachers need to present a united front against the Department of Education, who he says is trying to divide them.

"Chancellor Klein told me before he left, 'I'm gonna pit new teachers against older teachers. And I am going to do it trying make it look like we are doing layoffs. And I'm gonna do that, and I'm gonna make parents get upset,'" Mulgrew said.

The DOE shot back saying Mulgrew is lying and that Klein never made the remark.

In a statement, the department says, "We are doing everything we can to avoid layoffs, but if we are left with no other choice, we should be able to consider merit in the process."

Mulgrew says the DOE's ultimate goal is to change the law so no teachers are safe.

"They will try to do...is to push layoffs if they feel they can open it up so that teachers will be almost 'at will' employees, which is what I think they are truly trying to do," Mulgrew said.

Instead, Mulgrew says the city should pressure Albany to send more education dollars their way -- something that appears unlikely given the state's financial picture.