Why Hasn't NYSED Commissioner John King Been Fired?

Statement yesterday from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo:

“We’re working on a bill that would make adjustments to teacher evaluations,” Cuomo said at a news conference. “We’re literally working on them as we speak.”

Cuomo added it’s the state Education Department’s roll out of Common Core, however, that has created the effect of needing to change the evaluation law, which is tied to Common Core-based testing.

The state budget agreement slowed the roll out of Common Core implementation for students, and Cuomo earlier this year said he wanted to make adjustments to the 2013 teacher evaluation law accordingly.

“In truth, the reason we’re in this situation is because the Board of Regents and Mr. King didn’t handle it,” Cuomo said, referring to Education Commissioner John King. “That’s how we got here. These are problems that have developed because of the improper roll out of Common Core in my opinion. We addressed the issues with the students and now we’re trying to address the issues with the teachers.”

If King is at fault for the "improper roll out" of the Common Core and the current mess with the CCSS tests and APPR, then why hasn't he been fired?

Cuomo doesn't run the SED.

He doesn't run the Regents.

But you can damn well bet that if a governor wants the SED Commissioner gone and puts enough pressure on the Legislature and the Regents, it will happen.

All Cuomo is doing here is passing the buck onto the Regents and King in particular while ignoring (and trying to get the public to forget) his own actions in this mess.

He backed CCSS.

He pushed APPR.

He pushed his CCSS panel to try and save his reform agenda.

Now he's passing the blame onto the Regents and King.

I think they both deserve tons of blame for the mess the state's in.

And both King and Tisch should lose their jobs.

But Cuomo deserves blame here too.

This is his education reform agenda and implementation too.

So if King is at fault for the roll out, governor, why does he still have his job?

Governor Cuomo Blames NYSED Commissioner John King And Regents Chancellor Tisch For Common Core Mess

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal pulled his state out of both the PARCC tests and the Common Core today.

Here in NY State, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo still loves the Common Core, but put the blame for the problems associated with the implementation squarely at the feet of NYSED Commissioner John King and the Board of Regents:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo insisted teacher evaluation adjustments remain a top priority in the final days of the legislative session, adding that the problems over the Common Core implementation lay at the feet of the state Department of Education.

“We’re working on a bill that would make adjustments to teacher evaluations,” Cuomo said at a news conference. “We’re literally working on them as we speak.”

Cuomo added it’s the state Education Department’s roll out of Common Core, however, that has created the effect of needing to change the evaluation law, which is tied to Common Core-based testing.

The state budget agreement slowed the roll out of Common Core implementation for students, and Cuomo earlier this year said he wanted to make adjustments to the 2013 teacher evaluation law accordingly.

“In truth, the reason we’re in this situation is because the Board of Regents and Mr. King didn’t handle it,” Cuomo said, referring to Education Commissioner John King. “That’s how we got here. These are problems that have developed because of the improper roll out of Common Core in my opinion. We addressed the issues with the students and now we’re trying to address the issues with the teachers.”

Cuomo added he would be willing to issue a message of necessity if a deal is reached on an teacher evaluation change.

Okay, so here's a question I have.

If Cuomo wants to make sure his APPR teacher evaluation system stays in place so that "ineffective" teachers can be fired from their jobs, why isn't he calling for the "ineffective" bureaucrats at NYSED and the "ineffective" policymakers at the Board of Regents to be fired too?

I understand the Legislature appoints the Regents who then appoint the NYSED commissioner, but I guarantee you that if this governor put some pressure on the Legislature and the Board of Regents, the incompetent John King would be gone in short order.

For that matter, if Cuomo's blaming the Board of Regents for the shoddy CCSS roll-out, why he isn't he calling for Tisch's resignation as well?

Are teachers the only people in education held accountable for performance these days?

It seems that way.

After all, the CCSS tests don't count for the students (though they do count for the teachers) and the poorly-designed CCSS roll-out doesn't seem to affect the job statuses of King, Tisch, the Board of Regents or the educrats at NYSED.