State and teachers' union agree on evaluation plan | Politics

ALBANY - Governor Cuomo calls it "a groundbreaking achievement" something that will become a "national model."

He's referring to an agreement between the state and its largest teachers' union, creating a statewide standard for evaluating teachers.

There were congratulatory accolades for everyone involved Thursday at the State Capitol. The bottom line is that Governor Cuomo calls the agreement "exactly what was needed, to transform the state's public education system so that teachers are held accountable for student achievement.

The agreement ends a two year long stalemate and it directly links student performance and rigorous classroom observations."

“The way the system will work, there is now an agreed to statewide regulatory evaluation system. The local school districts will then customize that system if you will to meet their needs,” said Governor Cuomo.

The agreement also secures about a billion dollars in federal funding that had been at risk if the teacher evaluation system had not bee put into place.

“I'm fairly confident having been part of the conversation from the beginning that most of the plans that had been worked out, they're going to find very little difficulty in making them fit this template,” said Richard Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). “I really think what we did have was to find a way to provide that rigor and to provide a little bit more structure."

“If it does result in a legitimate, fair, accurate performance evaluation system, we'll be happy with that,” said Timothy Kremer of the NYS School Boards Association.

The teacher evaluation is divided into two sections, teacher performances making up 60 percent and the rest student achievement.

“Teachers who are doing well should be rewarded. Teachers who need assistance should get the assistance. We should identify the strategies that are working in the classroom and in schools all across the state so we know what to replicate,” said Cuomo.

Under the evaluation system, a teacher will be observed in the classroom by either a principal or an administrator, at least one observation will be un-announced.

The teachers will be allocated a number of points that places them in one of four categories; inefficient, developing, efficient, or highly efficient.

One other point, the state education commissioner will have the authority to approve or disapprove local evaluation plans that he deems insufficient.