EdVANTAGE Blog

Property tax caps, deteriorating rigor in Regents Exams, releasing student data for individual teachers, political endorsements…

Over the weekend, Capital Region BOCES Superintendent Charles Dedrick had a column in the Albany Times Union arguing that a property tax cap could hurt the state’s neediest students because of their greater dependence on state aid.  In the event of a state aid cut or freeze, a uniform percentage limit on tax levy increases allows a poor district to raise less revenue than its more affluent peers forcing it to undergo greater spending austerity and widening gaps in resources.

Today the Times Union has a piece that is getting attention from education bloggers (this one included) for its conclusion that “Regents exams, once touted as a gold standard of evaluation, are so hard to fail they have become meaningless. are so hard to fail they have become meaningless.”

The conclusion might be valid – I’ve heard criticisms of the exams from superintendents – but the analysis is limited, omitting any discussion of how raw test scores are converted to final scores.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan made news for saying parents should have access to information on how well individual teachers do at raising their students’ test scores.

The Secretary’s comments came after the Los Angeles Times began a series using student test scores to estimate the value-added effectiveness of teachers in that city.  Later this month, the paper plans to publish an online database with ratings for more than 6,000 elementary school teachers.

The teacher union leader has called for a boycott of the paper and education scholar Diane Ravitch called the reporting disgraceful.

While parents could benefit from the information, I question the value-added by the paper’s decision to make individual teacher data available for anyone to see.  It seems likely to divert real understanding of teacher performance into quick glimpses at how individual teachers measure up.

Often controversial Washington, D.C. superintendent Michelle Rhee aid she would also consider making value-added scores public.  But she added, “It would have to be managed in the right way and … given the right context.”  She warned that releasing the data could confuse parents and create logistical problems for administrators who could be swamped with demands from parents for higher-rated teachers.

Last week New York State United Teachers announced it was deferring a decision on whether to make an endorsement in this years race for Governor.

NYSUT President Richard Iannuzi said,“Andrew Cuomo has historically been a supporter of education funding and organized labor while advancing a strong social justice agenda.  Lately, his positions on property tax caps and statements about public employees have raised a lot of concerns among NYSUT members. We want to hear more and learn more before deciding whether to take a position in the governor’s race.”

NYSUT and the Civil Service Employees Association remained neutral in the statewide AFL-CIO’s endorsement vote, allowing Mr. Cuomo to gain the two-thirds vote necessary to earn that endorsement.

NYSUT also did not make endorsements in about half the State Senate elections.