Governor Cuomo Wants to Fire You
Via Newsday…
ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo Sunday called for a state review of all Long Island school districts because many use a union-provided evaluation he said is skewed to favor teachers.
A Newsday analysis of teacher evaluation systems in Long Island public schools found that in many the portion that local districts control is weighted toward ensuring teachers score an overall “effective” rating.
Principals’ judgment of teacher performance in classroom observations and other subjective criteria accounted for 60 percent of a teacher’s overall 100-point evaluation, according to the Newsday analysis. The other 40 points are determined by student test performance.
“Recent news reports found that most Long Island school districts have used their local discretion in teacher evaluation systems to skew the overall scoring to ensure that their teachers are rated only ‘effective’ and ‘highly effective,’ ” said Jim Malatras, the state director of operations, in a statement on behalf of Cuomo. “Most districts adopted the scoring procedures specifically drafted by the teachers unions.”
Seventy of Long Island’s 124 school districts use scoring ranges promoted by New York State United Teachers, the state’s largest teachers union, for the classroom-observations component of job ratings, according to Newsday’s analysis.
State law says the state education commissioner must ensure the local evaluations are rigorous and accurate. Cuomo’s statement Sunday asked the acting commissioner if she found any concerns in reviewing the local evaluations and, if so, what action the state Education Department took.
The teachers union said the evaluations are accurate and Cuomo wants to give more weight to students’ grades, which they argue are statistically questionable in evaluating teachers. Spokesmen for the New York State United Teachers union and the state Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
In other words, Long Island districts are not firing enough teachers, so the state should strip local control of teacher evaluations from those districts and force Cuomo’s junk science evaluations onto those districts. Cuomo’s war on teachers continues and today he has turned his focus specifically on Long Island’s teachers. The time to fight back is upon us.
The Offical Website of the PJSTA 
Cuomo demanded that Districts complete the APPR process by July 1st to ensure their State funding. Districts complied with this unfunded mandate even though it required hours upon hours of work by District personnel at great cost to the Districts. Cuomo required that the APPR plans be approved by NYSED. Districts submitted and resubmitted and resubmitted their APPR plans until NYSED approved the plans. Then and only then did Districts implement these teacher evaluation plans that were approved by Cuomo’s lackeys, King and Tisch. The APPR as a teacher evaluation plan was and continues to be Cuomo’s maniacal baby! Long Island District’s always had comprehensive effectively managed Teacher evaluation programs. The proof of that FACT is that Long Island schools and their teachers are the BEST in the country!