Long Island Superintendents Object To Test-Centric Evaluation System

John Hildebrand in Newsday:

Four Long Island school superintendents took their objections to Common Core testing and related “reforms” on the road Monday night to a public forum at Sayville Middle School attended by about 150 parents, teachers and others.

The school chiefs, all from central or eastern Suffolk County, contend the state’s tough new tests in English and math, tied to classroom evaluations, have forced teachers to spend too much time prepping students for those assessments.

 The result, these administrators say, is that students often have far less time than in the past for in-depth research on other subjects — for example, history and civics.

Cuomo's Common Core task force has called for a temporary de-coupling of state Common Core tests from teacher evals, but there's a catch - the de-coupling won't count for high school teachers whose students take Regents exams and "local" assessments will replace the state exams to make up the 50% test component for APPR.

So:

Local assessments will now b driving force in classrooms - get UR opt out letters in! Encourage others 2 do same https://t.co/a2kQo4H9Ov

— NYS Allies 4 Pub Ed (@NYSAPE) January 5, 2016

The powers that be want you to think a lot has changed in education post-Common Core task force.

The truth is, little has changed - "local" assessments replace state tests for many teachers, Regents exams continue to be a part of APPR for high school teachers and whatever Common Core tweaks the state plans will not disrupt the "instructional focus" of the Core. 

In short, same old same old.

Regents Vote To Continue Using Test Scores To Rate Teachers

The Regents voted for a four year moratorium from using state test scores in teacher evaluations - but there's a catch:

A four-year moratorium on use of state standardized test scores to rate — or penalize — the job performance of schoolteachers and principals gained overwhelming preliminary approval Monday from the state Board of Regents.

The policymaking board passed the “emergency regulation” in a 15-1 vote, with the only “no” cast by Chancellor Merryl Tisch.

The catch?

They're still using test scores to rate you, just not "state" test scores:

Under a complex four-year transition, teachers would receive new “transition scores” calculated by the state, based on information provided by local school districts. Such ratings would come from results of classroom observations and tests selected locally by school districts.

So don't believe the hype - Regents vote for moratorium on state test scores in teacher evaluations blah blah blah.

Means nothing so long as "local" tests will be used on you because in the end, whether the voodoo VAM is based on local test scores or state test scores, it's still voodoo.

So call the Regents on their manipulation here and spread the word - the Endless Testing regime and voodoo VAM is alive and well in APPR.

Not Much Real Change To The Standards In Those Cuomo Common Core Task Force Recommendations

The union leaders are shouting "Hosanna!" over the recommendations that Cuomo's Common Core Review Task Force released yesterday, but I'm less impressed by the whole thing.

Here's how Kate Taylor of the NY Times wrote this up:

A task force Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo created is calling for changes in what New York State students learn and how they are assessed, in a set of recommendations released on Thursday.

The task force, which Mr. Cuomo convened in response to the concerns of parents and teachers, is also calling for the state not to use its test scores to evaluate teachers through the 2018-19 school year, to allow time to develop the new standards and tests.

The report is the latest step in the state’s retreat from the Common Core school standards, national benchmarks that New York adopted in 2010, and especially from using student test scores in teacher evaluations. It comes in the wake of a rebellion by parents against testing; one-fifth of students did not sit for the state exams this year, a fourfold increase from the previous year.

But is it a "retreat"?

It is unclear how different the new standards will be from the Common Core. The task force’s report calls for enlisting educators and parents to help create them, and it recommends modifying the standards for kindergarten, first grade and second grade so that they are more age-appropriate. But it says little about the standards in the upper grades, in which students take state tests, and it says that, generally, the new standards should “maintain the key instructional shifts set forth in the Common Core.”

Gee, that doesn't sound like real change to me?

That sounds like the Common Core State Standards will get some minor tweaks and stay in place.

Sounded that way to one of the Common Core shills too:

“The report makes clear that the current standards and assessments will stay in place,” said Stephen Sigmund, the executive director of High Achievement New York, a coalition of groups that promote the standards.

So long as the math and ELA Regents exams stay as they are, there will be no practical change from what's being taught in schools.

Since the Regents tests are Common Core-aligned and schools are being held accountable for the results (and can be put into state receivership if they're really low), you can bet that not much will shift in math and ELA classes in high schools when it comes to teaching the Common Core standards.

In short, the Endless Testing regime and Endless Test Prep tied to Common Core will remain alive and well so long as what gets tested is Common Core- or Common Core-Lite.

The same will be true for the tested grades in elementary and middle schools if the tests remain Common Core-aligned and are used to rate schools.

I'm also told that the "local" assessment scores will remain as part of APPR, which, if true, means "junk science" VAM is alive and well in teacher evaluations, even before the "moratorium" that the task force called for having on using state test scores in APPR expires and junk science VAM using state test scores returns to APPR.

So, what real change did we really get yesterday in these recommendation?

The UFT and NYSUT can declare victory all they want with these recommendations.

What I see here is one big PR event made to look like a lot more is going to go on then really will go on.

Cuomo's Common Core/APPR Dog And Pony Show

I read through Keshia Clukey's Politico NY post on the Common Core task force recommendations that are set to be issued to Governor Cuomo this week and the sense I was left with is, they're going to tweak the standards just enough to claim they're not Common Core anymore, they're going to look to change the name to something else (something like "New York State Standards," though I'm partial to "Cuomo Core" myself) and they're going to declare "Mission Accomplished!"

In short, it looks like we're in for another Cuomo dog and pony show special, not that this comes as a surprise.

Many of us thought this CCSS review was nothing more than Cuomo and the powers-that-be in Albany trying to stage manage the politics and optics around the Common Core and the Opt Out protests.

We knew they want to change as little as possible other than the perceptions around the policies.

NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia indicated that when she said she wanted to "repaint" the Common Core so that parents would like it better.

Dunno how stupid they think people are, but I would be very, very surprised if the parents and teachers who are part of the Common Core and Opt Out protests fall for this charade they've got coming.

APPR will get a tweak too - they'll probably shove through some temporary "moratorium" to "de-couple" test scores from teacher ratings for a set period of time, which means test scores will eventually be placed back into the APPR formula.

Again, I would be very, very surprised if many people are fooled that a moratorium is substantive change, as by definition, a "moratorium" is nothing more than a "delay."

As far as I can tell, Elia's paint job on the Common Core is a bit of scenery for Cuomo's Common Core/APPR Dog and Pony Show that's set to open to previews this month and get a starring role in Cuomo's State of the State/budget address in January.

Thoughts?

Southern Tier Residents Rail Against Common Core At Public Hearing

Another public hearing for Cuomo's Common Core dog and pony show:

Vestal, NY (WBNG Binghamton) Members of the public spoke before representatives of New York State's Common Core Task Force, during a listening session at Binghamton University Monday night.

The meeting was one of 10 regional sessions that were organized to receive public input on the controversial Common Core curriculum, which New York adopted in 2010.

An overwhelming majority of people spoke against the Common Core on Monday. They shared their concerns and ideas with two representatives: Samuel L. Radford III, president of the District Parent Coordinating Council of Buffalo and Constance Evelyn, superintendent of the Valley Stream Union Free School District-13 in Nassau County.

...

One of the first speakers was Janice Strauss, a retired Owego Apalachin Middle School Spanish and ESL Teacher, who now teaches in the modern language department at SUNY Cortland.

"I think it's very crucial," Strauss, who lives in Endicott, said. "I think we're going to destroy a generation of children if we don't get this right."

In 2014, many teachers were displeased when the state began using Common Core standards to evaluate students before educators were fully trained with the new materials. As a result, student test scores dropped.

In addition to the controversial testing process, many teachers have expressed concern about their evaluations being tied, in part, to student test scores.

Dr. Carol Mikoda previously taught reading and writing in the Windsor Central School District and now teaches writing at SUNY Broome. She said educators have been trying to get their message across to state leaders for years without success.

"Common Core standards are always accompanied by expensive assessments that do not give information to teachers who are working with children," Mikoda said.

As has been the case so far with these dog and pony shows, almost all the speakers were opposed to the Common Core and the Endless Testing regime.

The only hearing where speakers were split over CCSS and the Endless Testing regime was in New York City, where the professional ed deformers got their supporters out early and rigged the speaking list.

Not that any of this matters - the panel report is already written, the "reforms" Cuomo plans are already set in stone.

These are just sham shows to give Cuomo cover so he can say he took public input.

Until politicians pay political prices for their support of the Common Core, the Endless Testing regime and other ed deforms, they will not stop imposing their unpopular agenda on the state.

Why Doesn't Cuomo Dispense With The Sham Hearings And Issue His Common Core Report Now?

Pauline Liu in the Times Herald-Record:

If you were able to get to the Common Core Task Force hearing in Albany last Friday, you probably would have gotten an earful about the learning standards.

The panel was created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who charged it with reviewing Common Core for what he called "a total reboot."

The event in Albany was one of five simultaneous hearings held across the state by members of the task force.

According to media reports, only about 100 people showed up to the Albany hearing. I wished I could have gone, but the so-called "listening sessions" were announced on such short notice.

In fact, the task force came under fire last week from both parents and teachers' associations for its "last-minute" planning.

The public was given only a few days notice about the sessions. They were originally scheduled from 3-5 p.m.

After working parents and the New York State United Teachers union complained that they couldn't get there in time, the hours were switched to 4-6 p.m.

I can't think of a more inconvenient arrangement.

If these hearings are truly important, it's difficult to understand why the task force put them off until what amounts to rush hour at the very end of a work week.

The group appears to be in a rush to hold sessions that it barely has time to schedule.

It's obvious when they hold "total reboot" hearings for education policy during school time so that most parents and teachers can't make it to the meetings that they're not interested in hearing from anybody who doesn't already agree with Cuomo.

And given the previous commissions and panels Cuomo has convened, from the Moreland Commissions on Public Corruption and Utility Storm Preparation and Response (both of which he controlled through the executive director doe both, Regina Calcaterra) to other education commissions in the past like the one that Todd Hathaway was on where they didn't want to hear about his dissent and signed his name to the final report even though he didn't agree with the findings, we know Cuomo has total control of the scripts of these dog and pony shows.

So why not just save everybody some time, energy and money and release the report now instead of going through the sham of making it look like you're listening to parent and educator concerns, Governor?

You're fooling very few with your dog and pony shows on Common Core.

We've seen these shows before and we know when they rigged for outcomes.

To be frank, if they're your show, they're always rigged.

Cuomo's Education Reform Agenda Gets Hammered At His Common Core Task Force Public Hearings

Bethany Bump in the Times Union reports on the Common Core task force public hearing last night in the Capital Region:

COLONIE — The whole thing is a train wreck. The teacher evaluations are an unmitigated disaster. Students are being drained of any creativity. The material isn't developmentally appropriate. Children are being used as political pawns.

A majority of people who spoke at one of five public hearings Friday on the state's Common Core program had these and lots of other negative things to say about New York's implementation of the stringent educational standards. The Capital Region was home to one of those hearings — the first since Gov. Andrew Cuomo charged a task force in September with reviewing the Common Core standards, curriculum and assessments for a "total reboot."

About 100 people turned out to the Crossings of Colonie Friday afternoon for the Capital Region hearing. They were parents, current and retired teachers, school administrators, school board officials and business representatives. Other hearings were held simultaneously Friday evening in the Finger Lakes/Western New York, Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York City regions.

"These kids see no relevance to these tests they now have to take," said Stacey Caruso-Sharpe, a math teacher in the Amsterdam City School District, where she's worked for more than 30 years. "The governor says they don't mean anything yet, and then you want to tie them to a teachers' score? It doesn't make sense."

John Hildebrand of Newsday on the Common Core hearing at Stony Brook:

Common Core opponents predicted at a state-sponsored forum Friday in Stony Brook that 500,000 students statewide in grades three through eight would boycott spring tests unless Albany pulls back from unpopular new exams and teacher evaluations tied to students' scores.

A standing-room-only crowd of parents and educators cheered and applauded as Jeanette Deutermann of North Bellmore, leader of Long Island's testing opt-out movement, warned that boycott numbers could more than double in April from more than 200,000 recorded last spring.

Other forum speakers followed suit.

"You are going to see a tsunami of test refusals," said Beth Dimino, president of the teachers union in the Comsewogue school district.

The 2 1/2-hour session, organized by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office, was held in a small auditorium of Stony Brook University's Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology. It was one of five simultaneous "listening sessions" across the state attended by members of the governor's appointed Common Core Task Force.

Several teachers and superintendents at the hearing called for a two-year moratorium on education reforms.

"What we have is a culture of standardization," said Patchogue-Medford schools chief Michael Hynes, a vocal opponent of overtesting and the linking of student scores to teachers' and principals' performance evaluations. He called for separating student scores from job ratings and "getting rid" of the Common Core.

For the most part, the forum was an orderly affair, in contrast to a raucous session held two years ago at Ward Melville High School, less than six miles away. At the earlier public hearing, then-Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. was at times shouted down as he tried to defend state education policies before an emotional crowd of 1,500 parents and educators.

Friday's session drew more than 150 parents, educators and others, and speakers were limited to three minutes each. Those who voiced criticism of the Common Core standards, curriculums and tests -- implemented in districts across the state largely over the last three school years -- were clearly the large majority. The national guidelines were adopted by New York in 2010.

"Common Core is destroying the dignity of the learning process," said Dan Campbell, a fifth-grade teacher in the South Huntington school district. He said one parent told him that his 10-year-old son cries at the bus stop because he doesn't understand the math curriculum.

Campbell said he wanted to tell the parent, "Your son is being bullied by the state."

A rare exception to the opponents was Preston Tucci, an eighth-grade math teacher in the Middle Country district, who was jeered by some audience members when he described how his students are enthused by a Common Core algebra curriculum.

"Your time's up!" several shouted as an electronic stopwatch that was used to limit speakers' time wound down. "Very disappointing!" another hissed.

Some participants began lining up more than an hour in advance for the "listening session," which began at 4 p.m., with people allowed to speak on a first-come, first-served basis. Check-in for the event started at 3:30 p.m., and all 45 speaking slots were filled shortly after the meeting began.

Dawn Wylie of North Babylon, who has pulled her two children out of state standardized tests for the past two years and plans to do so again in the spring, was among those in attendance.

"This is the most important thing happening right now," she said. "Our children are suffering -- collateral damage."

Before the hearing, Tucci told Newsday that he had come to speak in favor of new math standards that emphasize "real-world" problem solving.

"In a 15-year career, last year was the first year I haven't had a kid ask me, 'When will I ever use this?' " he said.

Dimino, of Rocky Point, who teaches eighth-grade science in Comsewogue schools, said she had testified last year against the standards and the state's teacher evaluation system. A vocal critic of Common Core, she said she has refused to administer the exams even if it means she is given an "ineffective" job rating.

Before the forum began, she said she was disappointed by both the timing of the event and the size of the meeting room. Organizers should have held it later in the day and in a larger space, she said.

"I am hoping this is not a nonsensical tour," Dimino said. "I am hoping this is a hearing tour."

Earlier this week, parents and educators complained that state officials had not given enough advance notice of the hearing, and that the time and location would make it difficult for many to attend.

Over the past three years, implementation of curriculums and tests aligned with the Common Core standards has spurred a growing test-boycott movement in states across the nation, with parents pulling children out of standardized tests.

Last spring, the revolt in New York was the largest in the country. More than 200,000 students in grades three through eight opted out of state tests in English language arts and mathematics in April, with about 70,000 of those students in school districts on Long Island.

As has been the case with hearings on education reform before, the hearing in the city was attended by the professional Common Core class - civil rights "activists" on the Gates Foundation payroll, an executive director for a corporate-sponsored pro-education reform group and members of StudentsFirstNY:

The first public hearing of Gov. Cuomo's Common Core Task Force in the city drew about 100 people to LaGuardia Community College Friday afternoon – parents, educators and students bitterly divided over the issue.

About two dozen signed up to speak, asking task force members Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan and Brooklyn teacher Kishayna Hazlewood to toss the Common Core, saying it was forcing a test-driven curriculum in schools while others expressed the need to keep high expectations of students.

"I think our children are capable of learning," said Nina Doster, a mother of two from Queens who signed up to speak in favor of keeping the Common Core standards. "Children in other areas get their best education and sometimes our children are left out of that."

A large coalition of pro-Common Core advocates attended the hearing, including Urban League President Arva Rice, Stephen Sigmund, executive director of High Achievement New York and more than 50 parents from StudentsFirst NY.

But City Councilman Danny Dromm, a former teacher who heads the Council's Education Committee, said the state needs to step back from an emphasis on standardized testing.

"The kids are getting bored to death with being beaten over the head with test prep, test prep, test prep," said David Dobosz, a retired teacher who worked in Brownsville and Bushwick. "We are giving kids a narrow education."

As with all of Cuomo's task forces and commissions before, it is suspected that the "reforms" this Common Core task force is going to come up with are already written in stone, so these public hearings are probably nothing more than dog and pony shows to give the illusion that Cuomo is listening to parents and educators.

Nonetheless Cuomo felt threatened enough by the possibility of another Poughkeepsie (where John King had his public meltdown after parents and teachers challenged his reform agenda) that the Cuomo administration did its best to limit attendance at these hearings by having them held during school time and in small spaces.

They eventually made the hearings a little later after challenged over the scheduling, but even so, the message from the Cuomo administration on this is clear - they're not interested in hearing differing points of view on Common Core and the Endless Testing regime, just making it look like they are before they issue the already written Cuomo "reform" plan for the education system.

But one important part of the dog and pony show is it does put pressure on Cuomo, mirroring the polling on his handling of education issues as well as support for Common Core (both of which are very low) and showing that Common Core and the Endless Testing regime are deeply unpopular in most of this state.

I maintain that until politicians pay a political price for their support of the Core and the Endless Testing regime, we will get no substantive change to the reform policies.

Still, for Cuomo's sham force to hear so much criticism and negativity on Common Core and testing is important, because it continues to ratchet up the pressure and makes it harder for Cuomo to defend the "Steady as she goes" reform plan we're going to get on this in the end.

NYSED Admits Common Core Review Is A Dog And Pony Show

From yesterday's Politico NY morning update:

STATE ED: NO ‘MAJOR RE-WORK’ PLANNED FOR COMMON CORE—POLITICO New York’s Keshia Clukey: “The state Education Department is soliciting comment on the Common Core learning standards, but it's ‘not undertaking a major re-work of the standards,’ it said on the website for its survey. The department launched its 40-day comment period Wednesday with a survey, dubbed AIMHighNY, available to parents, student, educators and community members...‘[State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia] has consistently said it’s too soon to know what will be changed exactly, but we owe it to our students to maintain our commitment to high standards,’ Education Department spokeswoman Jeanne Beattie said in an email. ‘And she believes our review will lead to a stronger set of standards for students...We are not starting from scratch..Over the past five years, New York teachers have made great strides implementing the more rigorous learning standards in their classroom. We owe it to them and to our students to build upon what’s working and revise what’s not.’” http://politi.co/1M73HZa

Rather than send any comments to NYSED for their dog and pony show Common Core review, best to send comments to your state legislators instead and tell them you will hold them PERSONALLY accountable for the mess that is education policy in New York State and will look to vote them out office at the very next opportunity.

Those are the comments anybody in Albany will understand.

And to be frank, until a couple of the criminals in Albany get voted out BECAUSE of their support for education reform, Endless Testing and Common Core, I suspect that not much will change.

Expect No Meaningful Change Out Of Cuomo's Sham Common Core Task Force

The ever perceptive Fred LeBrun in the Times Union:

The governor says he wants a complete reboot of Common Core, and wants to hear what all the stakeholders have to say through his diverse commission. Then he wants to lay out a new plan in January when the Legislature comes to town. Effectively that means the commission — which incidentally has no member from the "Opt Out" movement representing 20 percent of the state's students and their parents — must grapple with a complicated set of issues with diverse viewpoints and come up over the next several weeks with a consensus that satisfies all sides. An impossible task.

So we will most likely get what we got before, a bad joke masquerading as a thoughtful policy change.

Todd Hathaway, a teacher at East Aurora High School, was a member of the governor's first Common Core panel, and saw with horror how Albany really works. He was a dissenter from the commission's report advocating the garbage we got and found out they didn't really care what he thought. The governor's office, he said, "repeatedly ignored my concerns ... about inappropriate state testing, the misuse of invalid tests for (teacher) evaluations and the lack of transparency in state testing."

...

Our transactional governor, who long ago listened appreciatively to his hedge fund friends on promoting charter schools, for-profit education, devaluing teachers and advocating Common Core and high-stakes testing, is mostly looking for a political solution here, not an educational one. He wants to find a way to appease an angry, rebellious public while changing as little as he can of the atrocious education policy he dictated to the Legislature earlier this year.

...

The governor has made the Regents and the State Education Department scapegoats for his failed policies, blaming them for the hurried rollout of still unformed Common Core in this state. Lest we forget, it was the governor who insisted on getting there first among states, ready or not. Nor can we forget his continued vilification of teachers for a very long time.

Blaming teachers has been nothing but a prolonged, unfair distraction from what remains a prime challenge in New York public education — closing the achievement gap for minorities, for poorer school districts in inner cities and deep rural areas.

The disparity in graduation rates hasn't budged. It's time we got back to that, with a much better plan.

The difference between this "review" Cuomo has put together and the two past education panels/commissions is that we've got a road map on how this all works - Cuomo's office writes the report and hands it off for the members to sign and/or indicates how the report should be written to their shills on the commission.

This is what happened with the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption, this is what happened with the LIPA commission after Sandy, this is what happened with the two previous education commissions/panels.

So few will be fooled by this sham task force or the report it hands off to Cuomo for his January State of the State speech because we've seen this show before.

The key will be to point out to people over and over how much of a sham the Cuomo review was and to make him pay a political price for putting on the dog and pony show.

He wants a political solution to an education problem to come out of this process.

What he's going to get is an even bigger political problem when parents and educators see that the "reboot" was nothing other than a "rename" of the same education reform agenda and policies.

Cuomo Says He Hears Parent Concerns Over Common Core, But Chooses Rubber Stamp Commission For Review Process

From the "Sure you've heard parent complaints" file:

Cuomo’s office released a video featuring the governor, who acknowledged changes are needed to the standards.

“I have heard the message clearly,” Cuomo said in the video. “We must taken action and we must take action now to fix our schools.”

And what action is he taking?

Why, putting the same guy in charge of the last rubber stamp education commission in charge of this rubber stamp commission:

Former Time Warner and Citigroup CEO Dick Parsons will lead Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s latest effort to overhaul the controversial Common Core education standards in New York, his office on Monday announced. 

The panel will be charged with reviewing the standards and making a package of recommendations aimed at overhauling the standards. 

The panel was formed as the Department of Education forms its own committee to review the standards. 

The Parsons-led commission — which also includes Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia — is expected to have its recommendations ready by January, time for the governor to deliver his State of the State address.

Elia has already told us that she too hears parent concerns but we cannot go backward on the standards (i.e., "I really didn't hear you but am only making believe like I did...")

Now we've got Cuomo saying the same soothing words about hearing parent concerns but showing through his actions that he really didn't hear them at all.

The commission is supposed to report back to the governor before his January State of the State speech.

Frankly, they could just issue the report now because the whole process is rigged - just like the last time around. 

If Cuomo and Elia think they're fooling anybody with this dog and pony show, I've got a Tappan Zee Bridge construction project to sell them.

NYSED Commissioner Elia's Appointment Of Dennis Walcott As East Ramapo State Monitor Is An Empty Gesture

The rhetoric out of former NYCDOE Chancellor Dennis Walcott yesterday after he was named state monitor of the troubled East Ramapo school district:

“I will be present on a regular basis and meet with community members,” Walcott told the crowd, which alternately cheered and booed the plan.

...


Walcott and his team will provide a report of their actions and findings to Elia and the Board of Regents in December.

He said he'll make unannounced visits to schools and offices in East Ramapo to get a better idea of what's going on. He also plans to reach out to parents of children who attend private schools.

"We know when something stinks, when something's not right," Walcott pledged, to cheers.

Walcott has no power, so even if he actually sees something that "stinks," there isn't going to be much he can do about it:

Skeptics argued his team had no real power, since it can’t reverse board decisions, attend closed executive sessions or fire board members.

A state fiscal monitor’s report last year recommended an independent monitor with veto power, and said the board often violated open public-meetings laws by spending most of its time behind closed doors.

Essentially what you have with the Walcott appointment is a high profile dog and pony show that will solve little in the district.

It's an empty gesture, one that got some applause yesterday - and some boos - but in the end will probably get mostly boos as people realize Walcott and his monitoring team can't actually influence much in the district, even if they wanted to because they have no veto power.

And I must admit, I''m a skeptic that they want to in the first place.

NYSED Learning Summit (I.E., Dog And Pony Show) On Teacher/Principal Evaluations Not Going As Planned

This morning I posted that the NYSED "Learning Summit" that is being held on a school day during work hours seemed to be a way for Albany educrats to send a message to teachers and principals on the evaluation system redo (i.e., educator-input not wanted.)

Holding a "Learning Summit" on a school day during a time when primary stakeholders like teachers and principals can't attend seemed like a great way to make the evaluation redo process look open when it really isn't.

But Rich Karlin of Capitol Confidential reports NYSED's Learning Summit isn't quite going as planned by the NYSED educrats:

While the Summit was billed as a chance to learn about the new system, it’s turning out to be more like a Pinata session with participants roundly bashing the new plan which lawmakers, facing a delayed budget, and under pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, approved in the recently passed state budget.

First up were school superintendents, who said the state’s time frame for implementing the system by November was unrealistic. One problem: teachers are on summer break starting in June, thus they can’t have their unions negotiate details about the evaluations, which must be bargained under state labor rules.

Another complaint: the tests that are supposed to inform evaluations aren’t really measuring student learning.

Nor are the tests, timely — results are provided in some instances months after the exams. Others have noted that the political fight over evaluations has created a ”poisonous” atmosphere.

One item of contention that will likely persist: whether schools should get a state-issued template to set teacher and principal evaluations or whether it should be far more locally based.

In addition to teachers, the new system sets up a program to evaluate the job performance of principals and members of their unions offered a harsh assessment of how this could affect their jobs.

“They should not have their authority eviscerated,” said James Viola, a member of one of the principals unions represented here.

This thing's such a mess that even when NYSED tries to put a dog and pony show together for the new system, they can't pull it off.

It's good to see that there might actually be a little learning at the NYSED "Learning Summit" for the educrats and the Endless Testing regime proponents.

I doubt any of that will matter in the actual system they release.

But at least the record is clear on Cuomo's APPR system - it's a mess.

Charter School Rally Motto: “Being dumb is so whack.”

Big show from the "underdogs" in the education "war":

ALBANY - Thousands of city charter school kids got a lesson in New York politics - and a performance from Ashanti- as the battle over Gov. Cuomo’s education agenda raged in dueling rallies at the Capitol Wednesday.

The students, many of them from Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy Network, got a day off school to take part in a huge rally on the steps of the Capitol that called for an end to the “failing schools crisis” and featured the hip-hop singer and WNBA star Lisa Leslie.

“I think we just need to end the crisis,” Ashanti said afterward. “The kids are suffering the most.”

During her performance, Ashanti told the crowd: “Being dumb is so whack.”

It sure is, Ashanti.

It sure is.

To prove that, take a look again at Families For Excellent Schools' Jeremiah Kittredge go mano a mano with the press yesterday over his ridiculously inflated rally attendance estimate, charges the children were being used as political props and the overall price tag of the rally (which Kittredge refused to divulge):



Maybe they should have had Ashanti do the presser and Kittredge do the song and dance performance?

He was moving his head enough, that's for sure.

Non-Union Teacher Joins Campbell Brown's Anti-Tenure Lawsuit, Provides Highly Ineffective Argument Against Tenure

Eliza Shapiro at Capital NY:

Campbell Brown's lawsuit challenging teacher tenure and other union-backed protections is gaining a new plaintiff: a non-union public school teacher from Albany.

DeLaine Wilson, a 15-year veteran pre-school teacher at the North Albany Academy YMCA, said in an interview with Capital on Thursday that New York's slate of teacher protections academically harmed students in upper grades at her school.

"We had honor roll students [at my school] and when it came to the Regents tests they weren't able to pass them," said Wilson, who has four children who attend public schools in Albany and was a member of the New York State United Teachers when previously she taught at a private school.

...

Wilson, who is joining the lawsuit along with her husband, Roderick Wilson, said she believes eliminating the current teacher tenure laws will "hold more teachers accountable."

"Tenure makes them comfortable," she said, adding she would try to convince unionized teachers that potentially eliminating tenure and other protections would help all teachers perform better.

If the argument is that tenure makes teachers comfortable so they don't actually care whether children do well on Regents tests or not, whether they learn or not, it's not a "highly effective" argument.

The state's new teacher evaluation law holds teachers accountable for their students' test scores, including Regents scores.

40% of a teacher's evaluation is based on so-called student performance - 20% from local measures of performance (which may include tests or performance assessments) and 20% from state measures (like Regents exams.)

DeLaine Wilson can join Campbell Brown's anti-tenure bandwagon (if there's room on it, since Mona Davids and Sam Pirozzolo are already there and fighting with Brown over the direction of the lawsuit), but I am skeptical that argument she's bringing onto the bandwagon will help much since it's easily refuted by the parameters of the APPR teacher evaluation law.

And while some deformers may counter that most teachers were deemed "effective" or "highly effective" in the state so that the APPR system has no teeth, I would note that teachers in Rochester, Buffalo and other urban districts with high poverty found out just how much teeth the system has when overwhelming numbers of them were rated "developing" or "ineffective" on the evaluation system.

NYSUT, Other Unions Already Endorsed Andrew Cuomo In Spring

Jimmy Vielkind at Capital NY:

ALBANY—In one sense, the AFL-CIO's decision Monday not to endorse Andrew Cuomo's re-election is bigger than it looks. That's because the union's decision, sources say, was partially the result of heavy lobbying from other labor groups that are snubbing or actively opposing the governor.

The union's decision is somewhat smaller in terms of the likelihood that it will have a meaningful impact on the election, though.

You would think it's a no-brainer for the largest labor organization in the state to back a Democratic governor who, despite frustrating actions, has worked to create jobs for its members. All signs—polls, resources—point toward him winning in November, show his principal opponents in the primary and general elections are widely unknown and, in the case of the Republican, Rob Astorino, far less eager to toe the labor line.

The AFL-CIO's decision to stay on the sidelines anyway will be embarrassing to Cuomo and fuel buzz about his challenger Zephyr Teachout. But the governor has enough money and infrastructural support (including the backing of other unions) not to have to rely on the group.

“I find it hard to imagine that anything the unions are doing is ultimately going to make a big difference in a primary,” said Joe Mercurio, a Democratic political consultant. “This is going to be a turnout-driven election, and he has way more resources than she does to generate turnout.”

As I posted yesterday, the unions did their "endorsement" work for Cuomo when they threatened the Working Families Party with "dissolution" if WFP endorsed Zephyr Teachout and helped her launch a third party bid against Cuomo in the general election.

Polls show Cuomo has run away with a two man race but has a much closer margin of victory in a three-man race - a margin that could close considerably before Election Day.

Vielkind says the unions are looking to rebuke Cuomo for his policies but not defeat him.

I would argue that they aren't even looking to rebuke him - at least not the union leaders.

I would argue that they are playing realpolitik here, knowing that their rank-and-file members are pissed at Cuomo and there would be a lot of rumblings if any of the unions endorsed Cuomo.

I would argue that Andrew Cuomo knows this too and the deal was made between the union leaders (except for PEF, which endorsed Teachout) and Cuomo that the "endorsement" work would be done in the spring during the WFP convention when it mattered most.

Had WFP put Teachout on the ballot to run against Cuomo in the general election, he would have had a real race on his hands.

But the union leaders ensured this didn't happen and Andrew Cuomo knows that was their handiwork.

There is no rebuke from union leaders for Cuomo - except from PEF, which endorsed Teachout.

The other union leaders, their endorsements came back in spring.

Nothing More Edifying Than Brooklyn-Queens Day

Did everybody enjoy their PD today?

Did anybody find any of it worthwhile?

If so, would love to hear what it is was.

NYSUT Dog And Pony Show Over Cuomo Endorsement Begins

From Jessica Bakeman:

ALBANY—New York's largest teachers' union announced early endorsements in the races for state attorney general and comptroller, but Governor Andrew Cuomo will have to wait until August to see if educators will back him in November.

Karen Magee, president of New York State United Teachers, told Capital on Monday that “nothing has changed” since she was elected in early April, and that there wasn't much appetite for a Cuomo endorsement.

“We're a grassroots movement,” Magee said, adding that the early endorsements for incumbent Democrats Eric Schneiderman and Tom DiNapoli “came up through the rank and file.”
While she called those endorsements “no brainers” and “pretty obvious,” members aren't so inclined to embrace Cuomo.

 “I haven't gotten any calls or any e-mails to that effect, but again … the endorsement process for the governor will happen at the August endorsement conference," she said. "The local presidents will travel to Albany, they will have the pulse of their membership, and they will hammer out the endorsement.”

It doesn't matter whether NYSUT endorses Cuomo or not because the real union support for Cuomo was shown last week when union leaders threatened to tear apart the Working Families Party and cut off funding if the party did not place Cuomo on the WFP ballot line.

Whether NYSUT or the UFT endorse Cuomo at this point is immaterial because he got what he needed out of the unions last week in the Working Families Party melodrama.

They're Discussing Having Discussions About The Coming Discussion On Teacher Evaluation Discussions

The latest drivel from Karen Magee at NYSUT:

ALBANY—New York State United Teachers president Karen Magee said she has been in talks with the governor's office and both houses of the Legislature about a “moratorium” on using Common Core test scores to evaluate teachers.

“We're still in conversations as the session is winding down on potential modifications we might be able to make,” Magee told Capital on Monday. “That's still out there and on the table. We're keeping the door wide open.”

 ...

Late last month during President Obama's visit to Cooperstown, Cuomo said he hadn't yet begun negotiating changes to the evaluations, which include new Common Core-aligned tests as a factor for some teachers and principals.

“No discussions on it,” he said May 22 during the event at the Baseball Hall of Fame. “I'm open to discussions, but we haven't had any.”

Asked about Cuomo's comments, Magee laughed.

“He and I have had discussions that we need to move forward in that discussion, so if he doesn't exactly say that that's a discussion, that's creative wordsmith-ing,” she said.

Assembly Education Committee chair Catherine Nolan, a Queens Democrat, also said she hasn't been party to conversations about the evaluations.

“I haven't had anybody reach out to me yet, but we're optimistic,” she told Capital on Tuesday after a committee meeting. “Two weeks is a long time in this Legislature.”

Dunno about you, but my reading of another fine education piece by Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY is that Karen Magee is having discussions with herself over the teacher evaluation discussion, since both Cuomo and Nolan say they haven't been part of any discussions over the teacher evaluation discussion.

To my mind, Cuomo probably tacitly agreed to address some minor tweaks to APPR as part of the deal that saw the UFT be part of a union contingent that forced the Working Families Party to put Cuomo on their ballot line.

So perhaps that is what Magee is referencing when she says there have been "discussions that we need to move forward in that discussion."

Or maybe she's as delusional as she sounds in her statements and she's the only one having the discussions about having the discussion around the teacher evaluation discussion.