Will Cuomo Allow Any Changes To NYC Teacher Evaluations?

I've posted the past few days about how much Andrew Cuomo likes to stick it to his "friend," Bill de Blasio, on issue after issue.

Anthony Weiner and Michael Powell of the NY Times both wrote about this earlier in the week, with "jerk" Anthony Weiner going so far as to call Cuomo a "jerk" over it.

Yesterday Cuomo got everything he wanted in the budget deal on the charter issue, in the words of the NY Post "sticking it to de Blasio" over his vow to charge charters rent for leasing space in city public schools.

The proposed budget deal also puts the city on the hook for co-locations or paying for space for all future charters.

In short, Cuomo took de Blasio to the woodshed over the charter issue for his buddy Eva Moskowitz and her allies, all big Cuomo campaign donors.

We're in the middle of contract negotiations here in the city and one of the items being worked out is the teacher evaluation system, which is a mess.

The system in NYC was imposed by SED Commissioner King as directed by Cuomo's last budget deal and is largely seen as onerous and odious by almost everybody involved with it - except for SED Commissioner King, who came up with it, and Governor Cuomo, who brags about it.

Whatever changes the UFT and the city agree to over evaluations in contract negotiations, don't be surprised if Cuomo doesn't stick his nose into the deal and try and have his way over the evaluation issue here in NYC.

As Cuomo has said over and over, he will brook no changes to the APPR teacher evaluation system, he believes it is perfect just the way it is and it is one of the prime items he plans to tout during his 2014 re-election campaign and his 2016 run for president (i.e., holding those lazy-ass teachers "accountable" for student performance.)

There was talk of de-linking the Common Core tests from APPR for two years, but Cuomo would have none of it and ensured those changes did not make it into the budget deal, though a moratorium on CCSS high stakes will be enacted for students.

Thus teachers will be held accountable for test scores that children will not, an odd twist that I hope will be challenged in court.

He also threatened the Regents when they suggested a minor change to APPR.

In any case, Cuomo has shown relish for "sticking it" to de Blasio over and over and I fully expect him to continue to do soon on issue after issue - and that includes teacher evaluations and contracts here in NYC.

Cuomo has already said he believes that the city contract pattern was set by the PEF/CSEA contract model he forced onto those unions in his first year in Albany, so you can see how he is already sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong.

If the city and the union agree to changes to the evaluation system that Cuomo doesn't like, don't be surprised if he doesn't try and "stick it" to de Blasio again and engineer some kind of kibbosh on the deal.

Cuomo has already circumvented mayoral control in this latest charter school rent/co-location budget deal.

He may do so again if the UFT contract/evaluation negotiation doesn't go the way he wants it to.