Governor Cuomo is in an unusual position, vis-a-vis education. He has nothing to do with it, except for his power over the budget. He does not appoint the state Board of Regents (the State Assembly does). He does not appoint the State Commissioner of Education (the Board of Regents does). He is out of the loop. But in recent months, he has convinced himself that he is the state’s foremost expert on education. He thinks he knows how to “fix” education. He loves charter schools, as are his friends and contributors on Wall Street. He disdains public schools and is convinced that the state has a failing school system, not recognizing that academic results are closely correlated with the socioeconomics of each district. He loves standardized testing and especially high-stakes testing, where teachers and principals quake with fear when their evaluations are tied to test scores. Cuomo has made clear that the new evaluation system has not been tough enough; he wants one that identifies more “failing” teachers. He has promised to “break” the public-school “monopoly,” which others think of as an essential public service.
Gary Stern of Lohud.com speculates on what Cuomo will propose in his state of the state address. One thing seems sure: after the John King era, after the entry of Cuomo into the role of education maven, local control is dead in New York state.
Stern writes:
Now he wants to take on the whole education bureaucracy. But what goodies will Cuomo actually propose in his State of the State?
Will he try to change how Regents are selected, a move that Assembly Democrats would oppose? Would he dare propose a system of renewable tenure, which unions would fight? Might he propose a strategy for helping urban schools, other than threatening to close them? Or will he simply renew his interest in tougher teacher evaluations and charter schools?
One question Cuomo hasn’t asked is what educators on the ground think. More than likely, he’s going to tell them what to do.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m sending him my op ed….
A Nation STILL at Risk: The Imperative for STOPPING THIS KIND OF Educational Reform
An Opinion Piece
By Michael Hynes, Ed.D.
I love public education. As a school superintendent in New York, I am fortunate to work with children, parents, teachers, administrators, staff and community members. I believe in our public school system and have seen it work very well for thousands of students. Like all systems, it can and should be improved. The best organizations seek to do this, they look to continuously improve their system and those who work in it. As a school system seeks to progress one should often ask, “Is this best for kids?” I believe this question was never asked by the U.S. Department of Education or the New York State Education Department. They are paving a road as “we” drive on it. As this road is paved, we have little to no say as to the road conditions that we see ahead of us, how fast we are going and where our destination is. I believe this is true at both the state and national level in relation to public education. Again, it is my opinion. Over the years I have seen many things come and go. It’s the perpetual pendulum of mandates, ideas, movements, etc. There are some things that are still around that I wish were gone, and some things are gone but I wish were still here. I won’t mention which things because it really is a matter of perspective. My perspective, my opinion. However; I believe it is a fact that public education is under assault and “we” are driving on a road that will lead to it crashing and crashing hard. When it does, what will happen to our children?
I wanted to gain a deeper understanding as to how we ended up on this slippery road. When I say “this road” I’m talking about the New York State Regents Reform Agenda which I believe is really the U.S. Department of Education Reform Agenda for public schools. As a superintendent it is imperative that I am accountable (for myself and others) as well as building up other people’s capacities to reach their potential. If an employee is not the right fit in my district, it is my job to find someone else who is. Every aspect of the Regents Reform Agenda has very little to do with child development and everything to do with the wrong drivers for improving schools. My question is, how are they accountable?
To gain a deeper understanding as to where we came from, I decided to reread the original report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform which was crafted in 1983. I first read the document in the mid-1990’s but now read it with fresh eyes. As I was read I thought, “If our nation was at risk thirty plus years ago, are we in a better place now? Did we use any of the recommendations and incorporate the suggestions from this report? Did Secretary of Education Duncan or our New York State soon to be ex-Commissioner of Education ever read it?” The original report was published in April 1983 by The National Commission on Excellence in Education. At the time it was released it sent shock waves across the Nation. To my surprise, when I finished and compared the reports’ recommendations to our current reality in New York and in the United States…it actually seems like a much better road to drive on… or at least from my perspective it does.
This document made recommendations to focus on curricula and learning from other advanced countries. What I found most interesting was that the report doesn’t mention anything about how schools should run and rarely makes any remarks about testing. I was surprised and found that extremely refreshing.
I think you may find the National Commission’s charge thirty plus years ago very familiar to our current reality in education:
• Assessing the quality of teaching and learning in our Nation’s public and private schools, colleges and universities;
• Comparing American schools and colleges with those of other advanced nations;
• Studying the relationship between college admissions requirements and student achievement in high school;
• Identifying educational programs which result in notable student success in college;
• Assessing the degree to which major social and educational change in the last quarter century have affected student achievement; and
• Defining problems which must be faced and overcome if we are successfully to pursue the course of excellence in education.
The Commission made the following recommendations to the nation in 1983:
1. To review and synthesize the data and scholarly literature on the quality of learning and teaching in the nation’s schools, colleges, and universities, both public and private, with special concern for the educational experience of teenage youth;
2. To examine and to compare and contrast curricula, standards, and expectations of the educational systems of several advanced countries with those of the United States;
3. To study a representative sampling of university and college admission standards and lower division requirements with particular reference to the impact upon the enhancement of quality and the promotion of excellence such standards may have on high school curricula and on expected levels of high school achievement;
4. To review and to describe educational programs that are recognized as preparing students who consistently attain higher average scores in college entrance examinations and who meet with uncommon success the demands placed on them by the nation’s colleges and universities;
5. To review the major changes that have occurred in American education as well as events in society during the past quarter century that have significantly affected educational achievement;
6. To hold hearings and to receive testimony and expert advice on efforts that could and should be taken to foster higher levels of quality and academic excellence in the nation’s schools, colleges, and universities;
7. To do all other things needed to define the problems and the barriers to attaining greater levels of excellence in American education; and
8. To report and to make practical recommendations for action to be taken by educators, public officials, governing boards, parents, and others having a vital interest in American education and a capacity to influence it for the better.
When I read the recommendations, I found the following items absent:
1. Test children into oblivion;
2. Use tests from our children to grade and assess teachers and principals;
3. Develop new standards that have very little input from the educators who will teach the new standards to our children;
4. Do not trust teachers, principals, superintendents and school boards to make informed decisions about what is best for their children in relation to assessments, curricula and best practices at the local level;
5. Ensure that state and federal government (Governor and President) has significant influence over teacher accountability systems and assessments. They should decide what is best for children in public education (even if their children don’t attend public school);
6. Guarantee corporations will make billions of dollars in the age of compliance and testing
The recommendations from the Commission were meant for us consider, discuss and possibly act upon. I found the following extremely enlightening:
1. Focus on scholarly literature on the quality of learning and teaching. In my opinion, best practices dictate that teachers need time to collaborate with each other and students need to be inspired by their teachers and encouraged to take risks. It is almost impossible in this climate.
2. Examining, comparing, contrasting curricula, standards and expectations of several advanced countries. In my opinion, the New York and the US Department of Education clearly did not listen to this recommendation. If you look at top performing countries such as Finland, Canada and Singapore…you won’t find an over reliance on standardizing and the over-testing of everything. They don’t use the wrong drivers of reducing people by ranking and sorting. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. These countries hold educators and children in very high regard.
3. To review the major changes that have occurred in American education as well as events in society during the past quarter century that have significantly affected educational achievement. In my opinion, I think it is safe to say that the federal decrees of Goals 2000, NCLB and now the era of testing everything to death is not working. It never has and it never will. The fact is, if poverty was reduced it would solve many of society’s problems, including the achievement gap.
4. To hold hearings and to receive testimony and expert advice on efforts that could and should be taken to foster higher levels of quality and academic excellence in the nation’s schools, colleges, and universities. In my opinion, I don’t recall hearing anything about testimonies from experts when the Common Core Standards or tests were developed. I think Bill Gates, the Koch brothers and Pearson were contacted however. This is one of the biggest travesties. Big business prevailed.
I’m only commented on a few of the recommendations but I think you get my point. Our current state of affairs in education is not only detrimental to our children, but I find our public school system under siege now more than when A Nation at Risk was released three decades ago. To make matters worse, we are using the wrong drivers to change education and we are going at light speed down a road of possibly ensuring that students only know how to bubble in test sheets, become proficient test takers and graduate into standardized widgets. Sadly, it reminds me of the book The Giver by Lois Lowry. Is this what we want for our children?
We can learn from A Nation at Risk. As Diane Ravitch stated in her book The Death and Life of the Great American School System, “Far from being a revolutionary document, the report was an impassioned plea to make our schools function better.” She also noted that, “It did not refer to market-based competition and choice among schools; it did not suggest restructuring schools or school systems. It said nothing about closing schools, privatization, state takeover of districts, or other heavy handed forms of accountability. It addressed problems that were intrinsic to schooling, such as curriculum, graduation requirements, teacher preparation, and the quality of textbooks”.
So what is the alternative? Some of us believe in trusting the local control of our school systems. I believe in the capacity building of our teachers individually and collectively. It’s about climate control within our schools and trying to work with the command and control mentality outside of them. State Education Departments should be working with school districts, not against them. This door is open to a better way of educating our children. The question is… will people go through it?
I believe the underpinnings of the New York Regents Reform Agenda have never been proven to work successfully AND longitudinally in any school district. If you did by chance find a school or district that you thought was successful, how would you define their success? State Test scores? Did you just use test scores as your measuring stick? It is one piece of a multi-dimensional pie. Unfortunately, that’s what many newspapers and politicians use. I prefer to appreciate how well rounded our students are (academics, the arts, social and emotional growth, sports, etc.). This will lead to their success in life.
If you look to where success leaves clues, you will find that we should be heading in the opposite direction both at the state and national level. There are successful school systems in Canada, Finland, and New York State that our nation should be looking to glean from. As Alfie Kohn stated, “The goal beyond testing is about building a thriving democracy. It is about helping each child reach his/her potential as a human being and learner.” Strip away the over-testing of students, tying student scores to teachers and principal evaluations, using the new poorly designed standards and the command and control mentality from our state and national education departments. Let’s focus on school districts collaborating together, teachers taking risks in the classroom, principal’s focusing on a meaningful capacity building observation process and professional development for teachers and staff members. Most important, we need to allow our children to thrive in a place where “one size fits all” does not exist….then I believe we are on the way to being A Nation at Risk no more.
Very well written and obviously logical. Therein lies the problem with our response to Governor Cuomo and other “reformers”. Our responses are based on logic and the educator paradigm that if we just made it clear through reasoned argument and incontrovertible facts, we can change the mind of “reformers”.
The concept that these “reformers” are trying to help is a false one. They want to break the back of all unions everywhere and turn education into a privatized cash cow. The moniker of reform is a smoke screen for more dubious and corrupt goals.
We need to speak to the public, not to our legislators. For therein lies our only hope of fighting off this siege. I hope your op ed was sent to local and regional news papers where it will do the most good. I also hope that more superintendents will speak out publicly about the true goals of “reform” with the courage you have shown.
The reported Cuomo/Christie vetoes of the states’ legislative action to take corruption out of the port authority, killed both of their chances at national office. They can continue to harm the children in their states in service to plutocratic funders but, their political careers have plateaued at the state level. Cuomo’s father deserved a better legacy.
There is no real question as to what Cuomo will put forward. He has made it explicit and very clear not only in the December 18th letter but also in basically everything he has said in every forum and format! He doesn’t hate public education so much as he hates organized teachers. He will bend towards every idea that in any way furthers the privatization agenda. He will double and even quadruple down on charters. He will back ANY idea that further damages teachers. He will do all of this whether there is any “research” or reasonable thinking behind it. Nothing should be a shock. Yet, when he spouts off at the state of the state there will be all kinds of noise and people on our side who are shocked. They will mostly react by carrying on at length about how wrong he is and ALOT of space will be used up demonstrating in very academically precise ways how wrong all of his ideas are. None of that matters though. He will most likely prevail. There is no serious force countering him, and no, it’s not going to be the parents. This will mostly be a teacher evaluation thing. And it’s going to be super bad. I know that my career horizon, once at 30 years, more recently brought back to maybe 20 years, will most likely be closer to 15. I’m in my 11th now. So yeah, unless NYSUT somehow gets born-again hard, and is willing to go off the reservation and get into a serious fight, retail hell will be beckoning for many NY teachers in the next few years. Happy New Year!
Agreed. About halfway through myself and don’t see me making it to 30 years. My co-workers and I are dedicated, highly effective professionals who love what we do, but sadly we are beginning to see our passion being snuffed out by the machinations of tyrants like Andy boy.
The sad thing, from a broader historical perspective, is that as far as adversaries go Andrew Cuomo is really a soft target! Imagine someone telegraphing so clearly and loudly at every moment his philosophically shallow (no, empty) ideas and showing his hand so obviously in let’s say the 1930s! He wouldn’t have made it 2 seconds as a factory owner facing down salty labor hands in that era. He has shown us his play book at every opportunity. There is no excuse to lose. And yet we will. It’s a testament to not just the decline of labor, but the decline of labor ethos, labor thinking, labor philosophy, labor strategizing, and the reading of labor history. NYSUT’s leadership happens to be an exquisite example of all of those declines, but this is no academic exercise–people’s actual careers, and well-being, and ability to feed and raise their families, and participate in the economy and society are at stake. Sad days.
I agree. What teeth can Cuomo get bit with?
Well, I know of a group of around 600,000 that could take a nice bite out of something….but you know, the biting part takes some spirit, and the thought that “hell, this may be a beautiful, dirty, nasty, wonderful, bet-it-all-for-absolutely-the-right-thing, fight that I may lose but may bring real definition to my life.” Yeah, it takes that and some gumption and the ability to think clearly without the dirty goggles of fear. So yeah, I agree, there will be no biting. There will probably be a lot of getting seats at tables.
Cuomo is making this personal after NYSUT refused to endorse him for re-election and
he is seething over the widespread teacher support given Zephyr Teachout. Cuomo also has trouble reconciling a 70% failure rate on the new Common Core aligned Pearson tests and the fact that the new APPR system has identified over 90% of NY teachers as effective. It still doesn’t register in his apparently underdeveloped brain stem that 70% of NY teachers do not teach subjects tested by the CC tests. Although this will increase soon with the addition of HS algebra I, geometry, and ELA assessments. He cannot fathom the truth of the matter: that the vast majority of NY teachers are conscientious, diligent, hard working professionals, many of whom work in deplorable inner city facilities, in classrooms overcrowded with students struggling against the debilitating effects of generational poverty and family dysfunction. Teachers working in large urban, small city, and poor rural school districts that Cuomo intentionally defunded, eviscerating programs and staff to nearly third world levels. Nor can Cuomo fathom the simple fact that not a single building principal in this state would want to see the large scale dismissal of their teaching staff because they know dam well that their is no long line of highly qualified superstars waiting to replace the veterans who Cuomo wants gone.
And this group of 500.000 plus hard working teachers who have devoted their careers to children of this state are sitting back and waiting for him to spit on us in disgust. This man governs no one but himself and he should be impeached if he lashes out at teachers because of personal vindictiveness. He has no data, no research, not one single, real educator recommending that his mean spirited actions will budge the test score needle even one percentage point. He’s drunk with anger and we will be his whipping boy.
The power he holds over us is his ability to push his anti-teacher agenda through the new legislative session. This is will become an unprecedented action by a sitting governor against his own state’s public school teachers, administrators, support staff, school boards, parents, students, and citizens – all important stakeholders in the public school system that was not too long ago considered one of the finest in America. His actions, if permitted, will have long lasting, negative effects for years to come. Our union is the frontline defense, and right now I don’t meet many teachers who have any confidence in fighting this madman.
I think he will demand a statewide, common APPR for all 700 districts. He would like to have the value placed on test scores pushed form 40% up to 50%. And I think in his perfectly sadistic world, he would want every teacher evaluation tied to the ridiculously impossible CC tests in math and ELA.
We’ll know soon enough. More important will be our union’s response. D we get another mealy mouthed pile of lip service? Or do we fight back with the power of numbers?
What happened to Cuomo’s ethics reforms? Did he run away from the big, scary lobbyists?
He’s a real tough guy, let me tell you. He’s too scared to clean up his own government.
Cuomo will have a surprise at his inaugural in Buffalo. Only Erie county supported him and teachers are ready to have their voice heard!
Cuomo is a corrupt and vindictive POS who needs to join his Illinois cohorts (Ryan, Blago) behind bars. He has been trying to lure companies out of Illinois by promising no state taxes for 10 years if they relocate to New York state. Meanwhile, he starves the schools. What a vile man.
There are NO REFORMS in education, just DEFORMS. All ya have to do is follow the money and see gets the most of the “CUT”.
Cuomo vetoes his own bill:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/nyregion/cuomo-in-reversal-vetoes-bill-that-would-have-protected-teachers-from-low-ratings.html?hpw&rref=education&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0
FYI: There will be a rally at 11;30, December 30 at 11:30 in Albany at the governor’s mansion sponsored by NYSUT to show support for public education. http://www.nysut.org/news/2014/december/nysut-slams-governor-for-vetoing-moratorium-bill