A coalition of education reform organizations today sent a letter to Governor Cuomo urging him to secure New York’s Race to the Top funding by implementing the teacher evaluation systems to which the state committed. The coalition is proposing a back-stop measure that would require school districts to develop strong teacher evaluation plans by August 31st, 2012. Any district that has not successfully negotiated its own plan by that date would have to automatically carry out a “default” plan, to be created by the State Education Department.
With Hawaii at risk of losing its Race to the Top funding for failing to fulfill its commitments, New York has to act now to avoid a similar situation.
Please see the full letter below for more information (or click here for the PDF).
Education Reform Coalition Urges New York State to Implement its
Race to the Top Pledges on Teacher Quality and Effectiveness
January 3, 2012
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Cuomo:
We are gravely concerned about New York’s credibility when it comes to living up to our promise of providing every child in the state with an outstanding classroom teacher. As you are aware, labor and management from school districts in many parts of the state have so far failed to implement key provisions of the state’s Race to the Top laws. These laws passed with bi-partisan support in our state’s successful attempt to win $700 million in federal funds for public schools.
It has been widely documented that one of the reasons New York beat out so many other states in President Obama’s RTTT competition was the enthusiastic pledge by leaders of both education labor and management to work collaboratively to implement new teacher evaluations which would highlight the exceptional work done by effective classroom teachers. See video of New York’s representatives promising to work together to implement the RTTT plan here.
Like other winning states, New York promised it would implement the reforms that came with the money. Nearly two years later, however, all that the students of New York’s public schools have to show for this grand bargain is foot-dragging and politicking by the same grownups who assured the federal government we were serious.
To avert a situation where New York is forced to return hundreds of millions of sorely-needed federal dollars, we urge you to consider introducing “shot clock” style measures to ensure that all school districts will fully implement the state’s new teacher evaluation framework in accordance with the Race to the Top timeline.
New York cannot afford to leave federal money on the table at a time when its schools are already facing budgetary hardships. Federal education officials have made clear their intention to hold states accountable to their Race to the Top programs, as seen recently in the case of Hawaii. Hawaii’s failure to secure a collective bargaining agreement with its teachers’ union contributed to it being placed on “high-risk status,” in danger of losing its grant and subject to extensive review and reporting requirements.