Setting the Agenda: Education

Despite reaching a hard-fought agreement on teacher evaluations aligned with the Common Core tests during the 2014 legislative session, more tweaks to the teacher evaluation system are once again expected in the upcoming session along with a school aid increase in the state budget.

During the last session, state lawmakers approved legislation that delays the use of students’ performance on Common Core tests as a criterion for grade placement and as a factor in teacher evaluations for teachers rated “ineffective” or “developing.”

The debate lasted until just hours before the end of the legislative session when Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers were finally able to reach an agreement. Cuomo has yet to sign the approved bill, however, even though the current school year has already started—which means school districts have been left in limbo.

The teacher evaluation system was criticized again by student advocates when the 2012–13 teacher evaluations released in August rated 94 percent of teachers either “effective” or “highly effective,” while only 31 percent of students grades 3–8 statewide were proficient in English Language Arts and math, based on state tests.

Cuomo said this October that a lot more needed to be done to make the teacher evaluation system strong and meaningful.

“It will be very interesting to see what happens with that bill,” said state Sen. John Flanagan, the chair of the state Senate Education Committee. “That could be a precursor to many things that are going to be discussed.”

Until Cuomo signs the teacher evaluation bill or proposes new tweaks to the system, it remains unclear what action will be taken next by the state Legislature.

“Clearly by far and away the number one issue we’re going to have is the proper and fair funding of education,” Flanagan said. “The Senate Republicans are going to be remarkably consistent, as we have been, as the most outspoken group by far on the reduction and elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment.”

In its 2014 one-house budget proposal, the state Senate majority proposed increasing school aid by $811.9 million, which included restoration of $541 million of the GEA, $217 million more than was proposed by Cuomo.

“Education should be New York’s number one priority, and one way we can demonstrate that is by spending the most money or state dollars in that area,” Flanagan said. “And I think that it is also very fair and reasonable to suggest, ‘Well, let’s have a discussion about the money and where it’s going and how it’s working out.’ ”

The Assembly’s one-house budget proposed last year had an increase of $970 million, with $367 million allotted to reduce the GEA.

“After we’ve been shortchanged in the past, plus all schools were further reduced through the GEA, this is the year we drill down and address the particular needs of districts and certainly urban districts like Yonkers,” Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, a member of the Assembly Education Committee, said. “Really, this is time to get on fair footing and get the amount we need to provide services. That’s the number one issue for me, and I hope it’s the number one issue for the Assembly.”

Cuomo has said he would increase school aid once again. The 2014–15 enacted budget included a $1.1 billion (or 5.3 percent) increase in school aid. However, he recently has said he would like to tie school aid to district performance and more robust teacher evaluations.

“We’re now saying to the public education system, ‘You have to perform, and you’re not just going to get funded for process; you’re going to get funded for performance,’ ” Cuomo said in October. “That is a big deal, and that is a big shift.”

Cuomo has long been a proponent of charter schools. During the gubernatorial campaign he called the K–12 public education system a “public monopoly” that he would like to break up using charter schools.

“Do I think we’re going to have charter schools in every community across the state of New York? No, I don’t,” Flanagan said. “The [charter school] cap in New York is 460, and we’re not close to that. So when I hear talk about lifting the charter school cap, I’m thinking, ‘Okay, is it worthy of discussion?’ It’s not like I don’t see instances where that need is not being met.”

One of Flanagan’s main priorities is to ensure equitable funding for Chapter 853 schools operated by private agencies, and to provide day or residential programs for students with disabilities. The average person is not aware of the problems those schools face, according to Flanagan, and because of that, they get lost in the school aid debate.

“It’s not the easiest topic, but their funding has been a problem, and will continue to be a problem, so we need to find ways to address that,” he said.

There are still many issues as a result of the flawed rollout of the Common Core standards that need to be dealt with, legislators said.

“I think there’s going to continue to be review of various previsions of Common Core based on objections from districts, superintendents and parents. I think some of the decisions by the [state Board of] Regents are going to be subject to debate and review, although I don’t know what the outcome will be,” Mayer said. “I think we have lots of implementation difficulties—including the cost of implementation—and I think a lot of those issues will remain on the table.”

Both Flanagan and the state Department of Education has said more needs to be done to help English language learners and special-needs students.

“Common Core, for example, includes ELL and students taking exams at a time and juncture that is inappropriate for them,” Flanagan said. “Our federal government could have done stuff in this area, and they haven’t done anything. So I think we need to put the onus on our federal delegation to step up to the plate.”