EdVANTAGE Blog

Governor Cuomo will unveil his proposed 2012-13 state budget at 2 pm today.  Details, including School Aid runs, may not be available until that time or later.

The Governor made a lot of news on education over the long weekend, however, revealing plans to use School Aid to force action on teacher evaluation.

Initially, it was reported that the Governor would propose holding up School Aid increases for districts which failed to implement new teacher and principal evaluation procedures by December 31, 2012.

By itself such a proposal would only increase pressure on school districts to compromise with their local unions under a law which the Governor has said, “protected the teachers union at the expense of the students and instituted a system that was destined to fail.”

There had to be more to the plan.  Today’s New York Post and New York Times provide more details.

The Post reports,

Gov. Cuomo will give New York’s teachers one month to agree to a statewide performance evaluation plan — or he’ll write his own educator-rating scheme into the budget for legislative approval, The Post has learned.

In the ultimatum — which Cuomo will level at the United Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers as he presents his budget today — the governor will also insist the state union drop its lawsuit challenging certain provisions of the evaluation system, a source close to the administration said.

The governor would have up to 30 days to present a budget amendment that spells out the details of a teacher-rating system, something he promises to do if the unions don’t sign on.

Districts would then have until early next January to get the new system up and running or else the state would withhold a 4 percent increase in school aid, sources said.

 

New York is one of three states to be placed on a “watch list” by the S. Department of Education for inadequate follow-through on Race to the Top commitments.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has reacted to the news with a statement harshly critical of school districts, local unions, and what he refers to as “the Assembly-led legislation” creating the evaluation system.

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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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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:

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

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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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In this post:

• NYC tenure approval rate down to 58 percent
• Impact of federal debt ceiling debacle on New York State
• State revenue outlook
• Cheating

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A few news items have begun raising some skepticism about the state’s effort to improve teacher and principal evaluations…

An article last weekend in the lower Hudson Valley’s Journal News reported that teachers, administrators and even one member of the State Board of Regents are raising concerns about the ability to effectively implement new evaluation procedures in the year ahead.

Yesterday, the Syracuse Post Standard editorialized that the new process is, “convoluted, too reliant on tests.”

This coming week, a state judge will hear arguments on whether implementation of the regulations adopted by the Board of Regents should be suspended, pending resolution of the teacher union’s lawsuit asserting the regulations do not match the requirements of the law enacted a year ago.