ALBANY - The Mayor Bloomberg-backed bill to overturn the last in, first out law governing teacher layoffs passed the state Senate late Tuesday afternoon.
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The measure, while a symbolic victory for Bloomberg, has little chance in the state Assembly - and Gov. Cuomo surprisingly issued his own last in, first out bill moments after the passage.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said hours before the Senate vote that he backs using "an objective standard" based on more than just seniority in determining layoffs.
But Silver said it should be based on an evaluation system being developed by the state Board of Regents as part of last year's successful Race to the Top application.
The interim Regents report is due April 1 and the final report in June, when the Legislature ends its session.
"I think our legislation will come off that evaluating system," Silver said. "What we want to do is coincide something that puts that evluation into the layoff system."
Meanwhile, hoping to jumpstart the process, Gov. Cuomo minutes after the Senate vote surprisingly announced his own last in, first out bill.
The bill, Cuomo said, would expedite and expand ongoing plans to implement the statewide, objective teacher evaluation system that Silver talked about.
Cuomo said that state Senate and the Assembly agree New York needs a new system.
"It is time to move beyond the so-called 'last in, first out' system of relying exclusively on seniority," Cuomo said. "However, we need a legitimate evaluation system to rely upon. This will help make a statewide evaluation system ready and allow us to replace 'last in, first out.'"
Cuomo said the new teacher evaluation guidelines being developed by the state Education Department include merit and other factors in time for the 2011-2012 school year, but only for math and English language arts teachers in grades 4-8.
It would not be expanded to cover all subjects and grades until 2012-2013.
Under Cuomo's bill, all grades and subjects would be covered by the new standards in time for the 2011-12 school year.
Cuomo said his bill would also set clear standards and enhanced transparency requirements, including the posting of guidelines on all school districts' Web sites.
Oh, yeah - this should go really well.
So if you're teaching 4th - 8th grade English or math, they've got a track record on your students' test scores and they'll fire your ass at the end of the year if they feel like it.
Everybody else will be under the gun the year after that.
And the value-added system that Cuomo and the state plans to use has a 12%-35% MOE.
Under this system, ANYBODY can be rated "ineffective."
Maybe eventually EVERYBODY will be.
Objective system, my ass.
This bill essentially abolishes tenure AND seniority.
Not all that different than what the RttT legislation did, actually.
I just e-mailed Shelly Silver. The union needs to step up and begin plans for the future battles of teacher rights. They have been silent too long and need to start a game plan that addresses teacher protection issues.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing that principals CAN get rid of slacking teachers if they want, but this Bloomberg/Cuomo tandem want it easier, swifter, and unchallenged with their policies.
This is what happens when you play it soft and don't take stands against those who attack you.
The UFT needs to get off the pot or its curtains for them, too.
Well said, Pogue.
ReplyDeleteI suspect they don't fight harder because their on the same payroll Cuomo is - Bloomberg's.
You know, there's one aspect of "seniority" that never seems to be discussed. Seniority isn't just an issue when it comes to layoffs. There are other benefits that come with seniority, such as having more choice in assignments at your school, priority placements in per-session or paid preps, and other issues. For example, if there is a large number of students requiring speech therapy,so many so that it is impossible to schedule them within the framework of the contractual work week, additional sessions that are compensated as "paid preps" are created. The senior teacher gets first choice of whether or not to work those paid preps.
ReplyDeleteThis whole attack on seniority and tenure is frightening. A system of evaluation is not objective if a rating of "ineffective" can be given as capriciously as a U-rating. The abolition of due process is what's at stake. Mulgrew and the other union leaders across the country have to get off their asses and fight back. Why haven't the UFA and the PBA stepped up to defend the UFT? What makes them think they're not next?