Cuomo Not Caving On Teacher Evaluations

Again, I keep hearing how Governor Cuomo's pushing for a commission to handle teacher evaluation reform is a "cave" from him.

It is not a "cave" at all:

A deal on education and ethics reforms remain the key dividing lines between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature before the fiscal year starts a week from today.

Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County, said the sides are trying to ensure that schools at least know a range of potential aid if a deal on new teacher evaluations lingers into June. Cuomo has linked school aid to tougher evaluations, as well as a longer tenure period of teachers: from three to five years. It appears the sides are moving toward a four-year period before a teacher could get tenure.

...

Schools want school-aid estimates as soon as possible as they prepare their budgets for a public vote May 19.

“We want to give as much clarity and predictability to school districts as we can to allow them to plan budgets,” Morelle said. “By the same token, the governor has been very clear that he wants, as part of the budget, a teacher-evaluation system different from the one we currently have.”

Tying school aid to the commission outcome is NOT a cave.

It's a way to force an outcome he wants a few months down the line.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, Cuomo's going to get at least half of what he wants on tenure reform.

Don't think he won't get the same on evaluations - and maybe more - before it's all said and done.

Hope I'm wrong but the trajectory I see in these negotiations is compromise from the legislature and the teachers unions where no compromise need be made.

Cuomo is an unpopular governor with an unpopular agenda.

He can be told to go scratch with his agenda - and if he doesn't like it, he can purposely delay the budget himself.

Cuomo knows what the poll numbers are on that.

NYSUT ought to mount an ad campaign blaming him for purposely delaying a budget because he wants to increase the weight and emphasis of Common Core testing in schools.

See if Cuomo would like to have to counter that.

It's a shame the legislature and the teachers unions leadership doesn't seem to get this.

But doesn't seem they do.

Cuomo Says Teacher Evaluations, School Aid Are Negotiable

From State of Politics:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has told lawmakers that ethics is his No. 1 priority this year and other contentious issues – school aid, teacher evaluations, and regional infrastructure projects – are negotiable, several legislators said.

The story's by Yancey Roy, it's behind a paywall at Newsday.

More on this as we get more details.

But let me remind everybody out there that NYSUT President Magee and UFT President Mulgrew have already had one semi-secret meeting with Cuomo aides that made it into the news.

I wonder if they have any more semi-secret meetings in the works?

Cuomo Will Hold School Aid Hostage To Passage Of His Education Reform Agenda

Just in case you think Cuomo won't get most of what he proposed on education policy today, see this:

This could be another indication that the Cuomo Administration is playing hardball or it could be in keeping with Wednesday’s unusual combination of holding the State of the State speech and budget presentation on the same day, but for the first time in recent memory, the Budget Division hasn’t put out school runs.

School runs are those lengthy listings of how much additional money each of the state’s nearly 700 school districts would get under the governor’s budget proposal.

They have been something of a tradition in local papers which for years and within hours of the budget presentation would dutifully put the estimates in charts in their papers, or more recently, in their on-line editions.

The runs outline various categories of school spending ranging from building aid to extra help for academics to transportation aid and even BOCES-related costs.

But this year, in a press briefing after State of the State, outgoing Budget Director Bob Megna, who is heading to the Thruway Authority, said there are no school runs and won’t be until the Legislature passes Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s education reform agenda which includes increasing from three to five years the time needed for tenure, allowing more charter schools and making state test results the basis for 50 percent of teacher evaluations.

These ideas have been rebuffed in one way or another by lawmakers, especially Democrats and the governor realizes he’ll have a battle ahead of him in getting them passed. Thus Cuomo’s stance that, before he releases a $1.1 billion school aid increase, he wants the reforms.

“The more important thing right now is getting the reforms done,” Megna told reporters at the budget briefing, which took place outside of The Egg’s Hart theater upstairs from the convention hall where Cuomo spoke.

“There’s no need to have school aid runs until we have an agreement,” he added.

Have seen a few optimists out there saying Cuomo won't get most of his reforms.

Hope they're right and I'm wrong.

But as I wrote earlier, Speaker Silver is already indicating the APPR and tenure reforms are negotiable and Cuomo is making clear, no money for schools unless he gets his reforms in the budget deal.

Obviously he'll have to fund schools eventually, but not providing the school runs is clearly an indication that school aid will be held hostage to his reforms.