EdVANTAGE Blog

Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered his second annual State of the State address, outlining an ambitious agenda designed to build on the impressive achievements of his first year in office.

In the area of education, the Governor that in his first year he learned the lesson that superintendents, teachers, school boards, maintenance personnel, and bus drivers all have lobbyists, but students do not have a lobbyist.  So he declared he would be taking on a second job in the coming year – students’ lobbyist.

He announced he would appoint a commission on education to recommend reforms in key areas, including teacher accountability and student achievement and management efficiency.

The Governor said, “we need a meaningful teacher evaluation system. The legislation enacted in 2010 to qualify for Race to the Top didn’t work.”

He added, “We must make our schools accountable for the results they achieve and the dollars they spend.”

No details have been provided yet on who will sit on the commission or when it will report.

I was quoted in a New York Times article on the commission and appeared on Time Warner’s statewide Capitol Tonight television show, along with Tim Kremer from the School Boards Association and Nikki Jones from the Alliance for Quality Education.

In the Times article, I said

“There are a lot of people who would disagree with the governor’s rhetoric and parts of his analysis, but would agree with the big picture.  How do we produce more learning for students with the resources our taxpayers can provide?” Read the rest of this entry »

More on the trials and tribulations of implementing the state’s new teacher and principal evaluation requirements…

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Last week, the Council named Henry (Hank) Grishman the 2012 new York State Superintendent of the Year.

Mr. Grishman has served as Superintendent of the Jericho Union Free School District of Nassau County since 1995.

Announcing the selection, Council President Marilyn Terranova, said,

Hank’s selection recognizes his career of successful school district leadership serving diverse communities across our state, as well as his support for colleagues through wide-ranging contributions to the Council’s work.

Mr. Grishman has served as a superintendent in five New York State school districts covering a span of 33 years.

He is also a past President of the Council.

Here is the Council’s news release announcing the selection.

And here is Newsday’s coverage.

Middletown Times Herald Record columnist Meghan Murphy had a far-ranging interview with State Education Commissioner John King last week.

In the interview the Commissioner offers views on school funding equity, the need to consider a bolder approach to school district consolidation, implementing the Regents Reform Agenda, and the performance of the State Education Department.

It is worth reading, here.

The video for State Education Commissioner John King’s presentation at our fall conference last month is now available on the State Education Department’s website.

See here.

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In this post:

• Commissioner on Twitter
• Three BOCES leaders on school finance issues
• Should ratings of teachers be made public?
• More on bullying
• Silver, Skelos, and DiNapoli on taxes

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In this post:

• Cuomo on Triborough
• Silver on taxes
• SED on paperwork
• Fellows on loan
• Buffalo News on cyber-bullying

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This month’s edition of the Councilgram, our monthly, newsletter features part one of an interview with State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr.

In this part of the interview, the Commissioner answers questions about the financial challenges facing schools, the soundness of state assessments, the pace of reform, and the rewards he finds leading a state agency, after spending most of his career closer to the classroom.

At the end of part one, the Commissioner acknowledges that successful implementation of the Regents Reform Agenda is “wholly contingent on the successful leadership of superintendents.” Read the rest of this entry »

It has been a hard week for many people –  heartbreaking and tragic for some who were affected by floods and wind damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene.

Some schools have been directly affected and forced to postpone the beginning of classes.  From past weather disasters, we know schools also serve their communities in different ways in such times, providing space for emergency shelter.

In smaller but significant ways it has been a difficult stretch for the New York State Education Department as well.

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As has been widely reported, earlier this week, a State Supreme Court Judge invalidated some aspects of the regulations adopted by the Board of Regents to govern teacher and principal evaluation.

Below is the summary of the decision we sent to superintendents.

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