A federal education official warned Tuesday that if New York delays using student test scores as part of teacher evaluations this year, the state risks losing up to $292 million of a grant tied to making these reviews more rigorous.Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers have been meeting in recent days to find a way to postpone linking test scores to teacher ratings due to widespread complaints that the rollout of the Common Core standards was botched. Last year, students' scores plummeted on new state exams tied to the higher expectations.Ann Whalen, a U.S. Department of Education official who oversees implementation of what is known as Race to the Top, said by email that delaying using student growth on tests as part of teacher and principal evaluations would "undermine four years of hard work by the state's educators, school leaders and stakeholders.""Breaking promises made to students, educators and parents and moving backward on these commitments—including stopping the progress the state has made to improve student achievement—puts at risk up to $292 million of New York's Race to the Top grant for improving schools and supporting their educators and students," Ms. Whalen said.The warning was reported earlier by Chalkbeat New York, which covers education news.
The USDOE loves that famous "objective" evaluation system in New York that's based on Common Core tests scores that don't count for students but do count for teachers.
So what if the CCSS roll-out has been a mess?
So what if the EngageNY curriculum is garbage?
So what if the kids are being tested on material they've never seen?
New York teachers MUST be evaluated using the CCSS test scores or Arne Duncan is going to take away RttT money.
You know, that money that can't be used to lower class sizes or hire more teachers, but can be used to develop data tracking systems and buy tests.
Gee, it would be a shame if New York lost that money.
Additional evidence of illegal meddling, overeach and unconstitutional decrees by the federal government. So, go ahead and file a suit the DOE, perhaps the judicial system is not as corrupt as the executive branch and will humiliate the DOE with a scathing opinion in our US banana republic
ReplyDeleteNahh - it's all corrupt, rotten to the core. This is what Rome looked like near the middle of the end.
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ReplyDeleteI guess you are not following what is going on in LA. The goal is to fire bad teachers to replace them with untenured novices who can be easily churned. I am one of the bad old teachers.
I think the way to deal with this in the intermediate term is with class action law suits against the government showing overreach and other legal issues such as constitutional legal issues. alternatively, the challenge is to change the current political environment which is toxic, to say the least. The Tea Party showed that it is possible to defeat the status quo political reality. Chicago voters will hopefully boot Rahm Emmanuel. Best wishes to LA teachers during a difficult time!
DeleteIf the judge in LA based his decision on their being 1%-3% "grossly ineffective" teachers across the state and the "expert" who testified to that percentage admits he made the number up, there must be grounds for overturning some of that decision. At least in a rationale world of law and reason...
DeleteIt costs three times the amount to implement the Common Core Standards. Let's save some money and refuse the Race To The Top funds. It is time to put our foot down to this nonsense, this must stop now.
ReplyDeleteRight on. Race to the Top money is a money loser for taxpayers. But, local politicians want to ingratiate themselves with the Washington DC politicians in order to build their network for a national campaign for president. Cuomo doesn't care if he throws taxpayers under the bus. He is willing to throw anyone under the bus in pursuit of his imperial ambitions.
DeleteRttT has cost districts well over $2 billion in expenses - all for $700 million. I can't remember where I saw that figure, but I'll scour the Internet later when I get a chance and find it.
DeleteCan you imagine spending $2 billion to "win" $700 million?
That's how you know RttT was just jive - it was never about the money, they just used the money to fool the public into thinking it was a good thing for the state.
"If you won't let us hurt the teachers, then we'll hurt the kids!!!"
ReplyDeleteGreat job guys.
In some ways, losing the RttT money would help the kids. It starves the state of money for tests and data tracking.
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