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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In this post:

1. Governor to appoint education commission
2. Teacher evaluation conflicts
3. School finance news

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State Education Commissioner John King has sparked a debate over school district consolidation…

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Today, Council Executive Director Robert Reidy joined with leaders of 10 other education, local government and business groups to call for action on a six-part mandate relief plan, titled, Let New York Work:  A Common Agenda for the Common Good.

Below is the text of the news release announcing the agenda.  At the end of the release is a link to a more detailed explanation of the agenda.

Update:  Here is a 12-minute video clip video of Bob Reidy discussing the agenda with Gannett News Service reporter Jon Campbell.

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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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In this post:

• Why NYSUT sued the Regents
• State’s second largest union rejects proposed contract
• Health insurance premiums surging nationwide

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In this post:

• Blog posts over the past week (NCLB waivers, An interview with the Commissioner, 2-year School Aid funding)
• Newsday on teacher evaluations
• More on test security
• Governor Cuomo vetoes school district bills
• GOP candidates on education
• “Other” property tax issues Read the rest of this entry »

In this post:

• Cheating
• State revenues short of projections
• Obama Jobs Bill — Implications for New York schools
• Governor to sign bill requiring new school procedures on head injuries
• Blue Ribbon Schools in New York State
• Teacher evaluation in New York City

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