CUOMO WINS CONCESSIONS
ON TEACHER EVALUATIONS
Despite compromises, Governor Cuomo won “some changes in the way teachers are evaluated and granted tenure,” is how the New York Times is interpreting the content of the state budget bill.
The governor’s proposed changes in the Common Core program have sparked teacher and parent protests in Oneonta and Cooperstown that included representation from around Otsego County.
The newspaper says:
“The final bill does not include percentages for how much particular measurements will count — those details will be left to the State Education Department. But it does make it somewhat more difficult for teachers to achieve the highest rating, and it mandates low ratings in certain circumstances. Principals can still weigh in with their observations, but so must an evaluator from outside the school.
“Mr. Cuomo also succeeded in attaching consequences to the ratings, especially for those seeking tenure. New teachers will have to wait four years before they are eligible for tenure, rather than the current three, and in that period, they must receive three ratings of effective or highly effective. Districts can move to fire tenured teachers with at least two consecutive ratings of ineffective, the lowest assessment.”
