NY Gov. Cuomo to Tie District Funding to Teacher Evaluations

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to use budgetary powers to link teacher evaluations to school district funding — taking away a 4% increase if schools don’t.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has warned school districts to adopt new evaluation systems for teachers or risk losing a portion of their state funding.

Cuomo used his annual budget to outline a series of measures that he hopes would preserve almost $1 billion in federal education funding.

Mr. Cuomo is giving district officials one year to implement new systems based on the state framework or they will risk losing a 4% increase in state aid, writes Lisa Fleisher at the Wall Street Journal.

New York school districts and teachers unions haven’t been able to agree on a new system. But Cuomo warns that unless issues are sorted out, the state could lose their Race to the Top money.

Delays began when the state teachers union sued districts over regulations that would have allowed local districts to use state test scores for 40% of a teacher’s evaluation, claiming that it was illegal. Since then, tempers have frayed and the stop-start discussions have been protracted.

But now, as schools are set to lose $223 million in state aid, it remains to be seen what effect Cuomo’s proposal will have on the struggle.

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, is happy to see the Governor wade into the argument:

“I see this as, ‘Mr. Mayor get back to the table’.

“If they don’t come back to the table, then they’re basically saying that they don’t care about close to somewhere between $400 million and a half a billion dollars for the children of New York City.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the governor’s approach:

“I hope the UFT will not recklessly jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools by insisting on endless obstacles to removing ineffective teachers from our classrooms.

“The governor has rightly said he will not tolerate this.”

Mr. Bloomberg last week outlined his proposal to give permanent $20,000 raises to teachers with the highest rating for two years in a row, but union officials didn’t see the plan as viable.

Lawmakers have also been cautious about Cuomo’s proposal. It remains to be seen what negotiations will be struck.

Comments

Joe

January 24, 2012 at 12:29 pm

Yes, this is an excellent move. The fact that a stick like this should have been required at all to make the unions and the Mayor see beyond their own self interest is shameful though. But kudos to Cuomo for not punting on the responsibility to get the deal done.

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MattW

January 24, 2012 at 12:57 pm

Show me statistical evidence that show that “the unions” are the problem before you talk about “sticks.”

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Joe

January 24, 2012 at 2:22 pm

I said the unions and the mayor. Both of them need to come to the table in good faith.

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tired teacher

January 24, 2012 at 3:26 pm

i’m sorry no way should 40% of your evaluation be based upon test scores. That is absurd.

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csilb

January 24, 2012 at 8:44 pm

What do you propose? More than %40? As long as growth is taken into consideration, I am fine with that figure. It’s a simple fact that most teachers need a bit more accountability. Less temptation to fall into complacency.

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tired teacher

January 25, 2012 at 4:42 am

less, more like 20%. the issues with standardized tests as an assessment tool for students and for teachers is a long list.

although i would be interested in the facts that show that teachers need more accountability? or that teachers are complacent?

perhaps i should rephrase. show me evidence that a larger % of teachers is complacent then the average population of workers?

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- Kathy Franklin
  
  February 4, 2012 at 2:49 pm
  
  “perhaps i should rephrase. show me evidence that a larger % of teachers is complacent then the average population of workers?”
  
  Thank you for articulating this. I work hard, and I’m incredibly tired of being lumped in with bad teachers. In what other profession is this done – private or public sector? Additionally, I teach juniors. Am I responsible for everything they didn’t learn k-10?
  
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Linda Brees

January 25, 2012 at 8:02 am

The problem with using test scores is that, in the fairest assessment systems, you’re measuring how the students did versus how they were projected to do. These projections haven’t been studied and shown to be accurate. Teachers are being evaluated based on results that haven’t been rigorously studied.

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Linda Brees

January 25, 2012 at 8:03 am

I’m not suggesting that we trash that kind of evaluation entirely, but basing nearly half the teacher assessment on what could possibly be faulty data is insane. I think 20% is reasonable, or even as low as 15% at least to start with.

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