Monday, December 29, 2014

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.

4 comments:

  1. No one should be surprised that Cuomo has decided to reneg on anything. He is the scummiest of politicians. He has routinely stepped all over anyone in his path and has muscled his way into power. No wonder he and his pal Chris Christie are in cahoots over the Port Authority ... my only questions is why can't anyone in the media EXPOSE Cuomo for all the world to see? Is the NY political machine SO strong that it can continue to protect one of the most corrupt politicians of our generation? Is the Wall Street $$$ and private interest $$$ so big that it can pay to cover up this bully's repeated misuse of power?

    Aside from the fact that Cuomo bold-face LIED to the citizens of NYS over Common Core implementation during his now infamous "all dressed in white, kitchen table, humble parent" BS re-election campaign commercial, he is throwing down the gauntlet at the feet of public school educators in a way that will drive a rift of epic proportions moving forward between the executive branch of NYS government and what used to be, a fine education department (long ago).

    If NYSUT, the UFT and AFT continue to play the game of "see-hear and speak no evil" well, then we're done for. Never before in my memory has a sitting NYS governor created such a climate of acrimony between his office and public servants. This is sickening and it is high time that the field pushed back in a meaningful way.

    Please keep fighting folks ... if not for kids, do it for yourselves.

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    1. They'll go after Shelly for undisclosed payments made to him, but somehow Cuomo skates on major corruption. How much dough has he taken from charter backers to push ed deform? How much dough did he get from gambling consortia to expand legalized gambling? How much money did he get from REBNY and associates to hand out millions in tax breaks? How much did he get from Hollywood to hand them tax breaks that allow them to make movies here in NY on the state's dime? What shenanigans is he pulling over the PA? Over Bridgegate? Over Moreland?

      But so far, he's skating...

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    2. They're already putting hit pieces on Silver.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/nyregion/us-said-to-investigate-new-york-assembly-speaker-over-pay-from-law-firm.html

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  2. Wasn't that safety net already figured into APPR scores? If that's the case, won't they all have to be recalculated?

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