Local Teachers Slam Cuomo’s Proposed Education Reform [Video]

Teachers in District 20 and District 21 are speaking out against Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed education reform – announced in January during his 2015 State of the State address – which, among other things, requires 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation to be dependent on student standardized test scores, and favors an expansion of charter schools.

Public school teachers across the state are furious with the proposal, which they feel unfairly penalizes teachers for the state’s decision to implement Common Core curriculum across all grades at once, instead of gradually starting from kindergarten and expanding it one grade at a time. In addition, funding to schools would be dependent on test scores, which they say unfairly punishes schools in low-income areas.

Educators and school officials in our area were particularly vocal about their opposition. Community Education Council (CEC) 20 unanimously agreed on a resolution this week to appose the Governor’s plan and to join the coalition of educators, parents, clergy, civil rights organizations, and community activists that are making their voices heard.

The resolution details the many issues teachers have with Cuomo’s plan:

Whereas, Governor Cuomo’s plan would punish low-performing schools in high-poverty areas by putting them into receivership, stripping these schools of local control and silencing the voices of parents and educators, which is a blame-and-punish approach to schools that are suffering because of years of neglect and underfunding by the state; and

Whereas, Governor Cuomo’s plan to lift the statewide cap on chapter schools and eliminate geographic limits could lead to a huge increase in the number of charter schools in New York City and the two-tier system that has been created by inequitable co-locations with charters; charters fail to educate the same number of high-needs students as traditional schools, in violation of state law, but the governor wants to reward their bad behavior; and

Whereas, Governor Cuomo would move high-stakes testing into overdrive by basing 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation on state test scores, which goes against research showing that using test scores as a primary basis for evaluating teachers is invalid; high-stakes testing wastes our precious school funds and falsely treats a single test taken on one day of the school year as more important than what happens on the other 180 days; and

Whereas, Governor Cuomo is refusing to meet his constitutional obligation for funding schools, continuing to withhold the more than $2 billion owed to New York City schools under the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, and instead offering a funding increase half that size, $1.1 billion, for the entire state; he has also made the funding dependent on the adoption of his destructive agenda for public education, which amounts to extortion; and

Whereas, New York City schools desperately need their fair share of state aid to restore lost programs in art, music and library; to reduce class size and school overcrowding; and to provide necessary supports to students, including an adequate number of guidance counselors, psychologists and social workers in schools;

Meanwhile, the teachers at David A. Boody Junior High School, in District 21, have launched a video campaign on social media, inviting the governor to visit their school and see first-hand how his policies impact their jobs.

“Our governor is attempting to make the teaching career extremely difficult for all educators and this will negatively affect all New York students … Our hope is to teach people about what really goes on in a New York public school classroom. Like some people, our governor has a false impression about the teaching field, and it is no secret that he has never stepped foot into a classroom,” said Marlena Salubro, an English teacher at Boody who filmed and edited the video.