Cuomo Vetoes Common Core Shield Bill, Promises "Systematic" Reform Of Teacher Evaluation System

From State of Politics:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday evening vetoed a measure that would have created alterations to the state’s teacher evaluation system.

The veto was announced in a batch of bill approvals and additional vetoes Tuesday night.
The measure was one Cuomo negotiated, submitted a “message of necessity” in order to waive the three-day aging process and ultimately introduced himself as a program bill.

But the governor had always indicated he was reluctant to alter the evaluation system in order to accommodate concerns raised over the Common Core education standards.

Cuomo’s veto of the measure in fact comes as little surprise following his comments at a year-end cabinet meeting that suggested he would take a hard-line approach with the state’s teachers union come 2015.

Indeed, Cuomo plans to push for an overhaul of the state’s education system next year, broadly hinting at plans to centralize power in education policy making in the executive branch, and not the semi-autonomous Department of Education, which is controlled by the Board of Regents.

In his veto message of the safety net measure, Cuomo wrote the results of the most recent teacher evaluations — which found less than 1 percent of teachers were rated ineffective — “are not an accurate assessment.”

Cuomo pledged in the veto message to propose “comprehensive reforms” to the evaluation system next year, adding that signing the bill as it is would “make no sense.”

“Instead, it is critical that we make systematic improvements to the evaluation system so that it acts as a rigorous, accurate, and reliable measure that will allow districts and schools to meaningful differentiate between educators,” the veto message states.

Faux reformer Cuomo had a great opportunity to "reform" the Port Authority but instead vetoed meaningful reform bills passed 612-0 in two state legislatures so that he and his buddy in crime, Chris Christie, can continue to use the Port Authority as their personal kitty for pet projects and cronyism.

So no reform to something that absolutely needs reform, but we're going to get plenty of reform in the education system - enough to "break" it.

These two "reforms" Cuomo is pursuing are linked, of course.

He vetoed PA reform because it would curtail his power - he instead will push for reforms that will never pass the two state legislatures in an effort to look like a reformer while actually being an anti-reformer on the PA.

But he pursues education reform because it will expand his power greatly.

And just to compound the bad news tonight, the only guy standing between Cuomo and the "breaking" of the public education system - Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver - is said to be under investigation by US Attorney Preet Bharara's office.

So, Cuomo vetoes his own CCSS "shield bill" for teachers, promises "systematic improvements" to the evaluation system (i.e., more "ineffective ratings" for teachers) and the Times runs a front page story about Silver being the target of a federal investigation.

Very bad news tonight for teachers.