Gov. Andrew Cuomo said education will be at the top of his agenda Wednesday when he gives his combined State of the State speech and budget presentation. But on the day before, the hard-charging governor blunted some of his recent criticism of teachers, which included comparing the current school system to a public monopoly.
“I love teachers,” he told the Association for a Better New York on Tuesday. “My mother was a schoolteacher. And I respect the profession. But we have to get the orientation and the priority back to the students and not the system.”
Specifically, Cuomo said he wants to change the teacher evaluation system to reward the best educators with bonuses while giving more help to those who need it. He also said he wants to target the state's 178 failing schools.
Education groups said they'll be watching to see if he embraces recent proposals by New York Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch. She suggested extending the probationary period for tenure from three years to five years, and speeding up the disciplinary process.
Tisch also proposed changing the evaluation system so that a full 40 percent of a teacher’s rating is based on state test scores. Currently, 60 percent of a teacher’s rating is based on classroom observations while 20 percent relies on student growth on state tests, and another 20 percent is based on local measures. Tisch has said this has contributed to too many tests, a major concern of parents and teachers.
The Regents, themselves, could also come under fire from Cuomo. Late last year, he questioned whether he should have more control over the selection of a new education commissioner, now that John King has gone to the U.S. Department of Education. The commissioner is appointed by the Regents members who, in turn, are appointed by the legislature. Albany observers told WNYC they considered this a sideshow unlikely to go anywhere because lawmakers are loath to give up any control.
Instead, observers are more interested in charter schools and Cuomo's overall budget for education spending. The Regents have called for an additional $2 billion in education aid to further expand pre-kindergarten and career and technical education programs, among other programs.
But Cuomo reiterated on Tuesday that money is not the answer to the state’s education problems because New York already spends more per student than any other state.
“And you know what it’s gotten us?” Cuomo asked. “A larger and larger bureaucracy, and higher salaries for the people who work in the education industry.”
Cuomo called this industry a “sophisticated” political machine.
In fact, the New York Post reported that the city's teachers union spent $4.7 million on political contributions last year and has been running ads urging Cuomo not to “settle political scores” with his budget proposal.
Karen Magee, president of New York State United Teachers, wouldn’t respond to the governor’s remarks but she once again invited him to speak to stakeholders. She called on Cuomo to attend forums at public schools with parents, teachers and students to talk about issues affecting education such as student poverty and the lack of equitable and adequate education funding.
“I believe the governor is truly misinformed,” she said.
The Alliance for Quality Education, which receives funding from teachers unions, called on the governor to fulfill a court order to spend billions of more dollars on schools. Executive Director Billy Easton said wealthy supporters of charter schools have spent more money than unions, and contributed large sums to the governor’s re-election campaign.
“You may hear tomorrow that it’s not about the money,” Easton said at an Albany press conference with Democratic lawmakers and members of the Working Families Party. “But you never hear that when hedge fund managers want to make political donations.”
The pro-charter group StudentsFirstNY spent more than $4 million during last fall’s legislative elections. A group with a similar mission, Families for Excellent Schools, spent about $6 million during the last legislative session.
Cuomo is expected to propose some way of allowing more charter schools to flourish, whether by lifting the statewide cap or allowing unused charters from other districts to be given to New York City, which is fast approaching its limit.
On this issue, Cuomo has the support of the Senate's Republicans but faces opposition from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.