NYC Educator: The Elastic and Amazing Andrew Cuomo

NYC Educator: The Elastic and Amazing Andrew Cuomo:

The Elastic and Amazing Andrew Cuomo

A few years back, things in New York were not nearly reformy enough. Kids were going to school, teachers were going to school, and there was not nearly enough high blood pressure. For example, supervisors would observe teachers, determine whether or not they were doing a good job, and advise them. This was awful. It did not take into account how students do on tests, which is of course the only thing that happens in school that merits any consideration whatsoever.

So Andy Cuomo got together with union leaders and worked out a deal. From now on, state test scores would account for 20% of teacher ratings, local assessments would be another 20%, and anyone rated ineffective on these "objective" measures would be rated ineffective overall. Unions would negotiate these measures, except for the UFT, which allowed thoroughly impartial John King to impose one.

So Andy Cuomo called himself the student lobbyist, because only he could stand up and make sure junk science, the most reliable measure on earth, was used to rate their teachers. This was the only way to make sure kids had good teachers, because test scores were entirely dependent on teachers, and whether or not the kids were taken care of at home played no part whatsoever in these vital scores.

And when the Regents attempted to delay junk science rating of teachers, based on Common Core tests that 70% of kids failed, Governor Cuomo was outraged. He stood up and said this was unacceptable. The Regents backed down immediately and stopped even hinting of such changes. After all, it's important to rate NY teachers on tests 70% of kids fail. It's not conceivable that the kids could fail the completely new tests because they've never been prepared for them, or because they've been taught different methodology since they started school years ago. Or because they don't speak English, or because they have learning disabilities, or because they're poor, or because they're abused or neglected, or because the tests are based on standards that have never been tested.

Andrew Cuomo knows better, because he's governor. Testing must go on. As long as rich people don't pay additional taxes, everything in his 

On Email

I love email. If I should wake up at 2 AM and decide to write you, I don't have to wake you. (I hope you appreciate my consideration.) I can wait for you to get back to me, and if you don't, I can remind you any hour day or night without putting you out too much.Now that many of us have smartphones, we see email a lot more frequently. I keep two accounts on my smartphone, and the rest I check when

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FEB 19

Who Does Your Chapter Leader Represent?

It should be clear that your UFT chapter leader needs to represent you when you have issues with administration. Sometimes, people tell me their chapter leader says things like, "I can't take sides," and that's inappropriate. Your chapter leader needs to take your side, particularly when there is a contractual violation.Of course not everything is a contractual violation. If you're on a

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FEB 18

On Junk Science Evaluation--Garbage In, Garbage Out

Shockingly, NY State is encountering problems with its new evaluation system. According to Newsday, teachers can rate effective in test passing percentages, yet rate developing overall. Alas, such are the exigencies of a system that is created based on wishful thinking and a desire to fire teachers for no particular reason. Actually, what is shocking about this story is not that there are problems

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FEB 16

Brunch in NYC Schools

The NY Daily News has discovered that lunch is served very early in city schools. I'm not particularly sure why, under 20 years of GOP mayors, that this escaped their attention. This is not remotely new. It turns out that, when you overload buildings and fail to create sufficient space, you can't fit kids on a reasonable schedule. When you look at empty space in a building as an opportunity to pri

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