Fred LeBrun of the Albany Times-Union says the battle over Cuomo’s teacher evaluation plan is not over yet. What the Regents adopted last week was an extension of emergency regulations, and there is still a 30-day period of public comment. In fact, they can’t be made final until the November meeting. In the meanwhile, parents and educators can keep up the pressure and keep planning for the biggest opt out in American history next spring. Suppose they give a test and no one takes it?
LeBrun writes:
There was a simple if potent resolution on the agenda of the state Board of Regents meeting last week calling for final passage of the onerous new teacher evaluation system Gov. Cuomo rammed through the Legislature earlier in the year. 
A vote was taken of the 16 Regents, and it was widely reported in the media that they had done their duty and given, if reluctantly and after much debate, final approval as the law required them to do by a vote of 10 to 6.
In fact, that wasn’t the case at all. They did their duty alright, but it wasn’t to give final approval.
What the Regents voted to do instead was quite clever, a lovely little avoidance procedure.
They proposed three new amendments to the emergency regulations they had passed back in June drafted by the state Education Department as dictated by the law. These new amendments of themselves offer some small relief for teachers and schools — a brighter shade of lipstick — but their real value is elsewhere.
What the Regents actually approved was an extension of the emergency regulations triggered by the proposed new amendments, that restarts a 30-day public comment period. Emergency regs have a shelf life of 90 days.
Because the comment period would extend beyond the date for the next monthly Regents meeting, a vote isn’t possible on the new emergency regs to make them final until the November meeting.
So what, you ask? Well this: what the Regents managed to do is find just enough wiggle room in a tightly scripted law to kick the can down the road and basically approve nothing at all. At least, not yet.
Nothing stops them during the November meeting from introducing another amendment or two, and resetting the clock again.
Before you know it, the Legislature is back in session where the real relief must come, as the Regents, parents and educators know full well.
The only permanent fix for a bad law is to change it.
The 10-6 vote, incidentally, reflects just how frustrated the Regents are, and perhaps reflects as well as the internal split on just how radical a change is needed to the law. Six refused to endorse a bad law even by extending emergency regulations.
The majority subscribed to the view that lousy law though it is, there was a risk to federal aid and a vulnerability to litigation by failing to approve interim regs. So Cuomo’s signature teacher evaluation law remains in limbo and still fluid.
All this buys time for those who seek major revisions in the teacher evaluation law, and joined at the hip, the state’s reliance on high stakes standardized tests.
High among those eager for change are the Regents themselves, who are becoming strident about reasserting their legal role as the proper policy makers for education in the state. A role that has been usurped by the governor.
The Regents have certainly gotten an earful from educators in the field and get it that the system is beyond broken; it’s in shambles. It needs a complete overhaul and not just cosmetic change.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
No. Its over.
Can you explain, NYSTEACHER?
Yes. The regents have voted. Their vote for the insane eval plan was clear prior to the actual vote. Their patterns are predictable. Reversing themselves due to what should be considered normal political engagement and communication have rarely, if ever, produced desired results. If opt out was going to change their minds, it would have changed their recent vote. The regents were pacified, as none of us were, over the whole “appeals” nonsense I’m sure.
If all we bring to the table is the basic democracy stuff of hitting the phones, writing letters, threats about the next election cycle, etc., then we can expect the same results we have had over the past years: not getting politicians, regents, etc. to side with us.
In another post I was trying to explain why the regents, many of whom should know better, always end up voting for reform movement ideas, etc…here is some of what I wrote:
It’s also about narrative. Few people want their professional lives to be void of meaning. I’d argue that this is true for those on the board of regents. They all want to feel in some way central and connected to the broad currents of their time, and as regents they probably want to feel like real movers and agents of change. By voting for measures associated with the reform movement they are choosing a narrative steeped in the language of social reform, the language of the civil rights movement, and at bottom a language of social change. Obviously these narratives are all strategically positioned to cover some of the most egregious and crass capitalist-corporatist privatization efforts ever, but that is beside the point.
The only narrative we offer is a confused narrative of seeming stasis and vague reference to democracy. We are of course right, but the fact is we have failed at providing a narrative by which those with political power can feel that they are participating in the reform and change that all of us want to be part of. Again, the reasons for our failure lie in our side’s inability to confront our own issues etc which I struggled to articulate elsewhere. Being right isn’t enough. The reform movement has been successful in crafting their side as “reform.” All the academic papers demonstrating our side being right is nothing compared to a simple appealing narrative. We forget this to our detriment.
Unfortunately even emergency rules have the full force of law almost immediately.
QUESTION: If the regents finally approve the evaluation change in November, what happens to any obervations done on teachers between now and November? (In other words, school districts in NYS are still operation under the “old” evaluation law) Will any observations conducted by principals be voided out between now and November? This situation is very frustrating to both teachers and principals as everyone is so clueless about what is going to happen and how it will impact careers.
“The Votes are In”
The Regents have voted
Their votes have been counted
The teachers demoted
Their grievances flouted
The parents have voted
Their children opt-outed
The Regents imploded
Irrelevance touted
OPT OUT needs to be above 50% this year. And educators in NYC need to have the collective courage to share with parents how flawed the current exams are.
We should have a competition for the most stern, scolding, patronizing ed reform lecture on release of the CC test scores.
This is my submission, but it’s early yet 🙂
I bet a lot of them will easily top this:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-parcc-illinois-test-edit-0921-20150918-story.html
This is the kind of editorial garbage we get from the Chicago Tribune on a regular basis. How are people supposed to make informed decisions about education when this is the drivel presented to them by our premier Chicago paper? Dyett High School is already fading from the radar. I hope social and the progressive media outlets continue to follow this story closely.
I said this from day one when this teacher evaluation plan was first implemented. It is legislated and “IS LAW”. Teachers, union reps and the public don’t know what “IT IS LAW” means. I said from day one, we should go on strike over this insanity. But, as union reps and most teacher’s response was, “This will all go away”. Bullshit, law is law and laws have to be repealed. Ha, Haa. Chicago teachers did what what necessary, went on STRIKE and got what they wanted. New York teachers, “negotiate” and lose. NY teachers are no less than sheep waiting for their slaughter and they will get it because they are too afraid of losing a day’s wage than defending their entire career and livelihood. Greed is pernicious and short sighted.You get what you deserve. Wi.ll teachers stand up for their students and careers? NOOOOOOOOO! Too camplacent, short-sighted and naive
‘
Teacher,
You have it plain.
Absolutely correct. We have gotten ourselves way way way too invested in that nonsensical platitude about pendulums. We think, erroneously, that things will eventually swing back. Nope. Law is law. Undoing that will require more sauce than teachers in the state, as a whole, possess. NYSUT, without question, not only doesn’t have the sauce, the leadership doesn’t even have the wattage to even see that they are a totally defeated, completely meaningless organization. They exist only to collect dues from the locals. They have zero meaning.
I just sat through a faculty meeting today explaining the new law. It was so disheartening…what has this profession come to? It reminds me of the old commercial with the Native American looking down on the dump full of trash and a tear running down his cheek. Sad.
Eas9. Are you a teacher in NYC? Please, please, let us know what you learned at your faculty meeting regarding the new evaluations. The teachers at our school have heard nothing. Will the new evlauation law take place immediatly? How many formal vs. informal observations will there be? Will the outside evaluator do the informal or the formal observation? Which obervation(s) are announced vs. unnanouced? This information is CRUCIAL for us to know. Even if you are not an NYC teacher, please share what you heard at your meeting. Big thanks!
The new evaluation law, APPR, requires the administrators President and the teachers President sign it before submitting it to the state for approval. Why would any President ever sign a document that turns their careers into a folly and gives 80% of the evaluative control to the state? Signing it is consenting to the death of public education. The bribe/extortion tactic is that you will not get your increase in state aid. What if no one folded? It is a choice. Regents had a choice so now it is time for all Presidents to make that choice. Unify and simply say NO! They might still hang them, but at least they won’ t be bringing the rope to their own execution.
HA!
This posting is a laugh and a half, as a delay will not stop the Regents from voting the way Cuomo wants them two. Each of the 10 Regents who voted in favor of this may as will be a clone of Michelle Rhee, yet I have, in the past, seen some signs of hope in Merill Tisch.
Delays or no delays, this Board of Regents is a one way street, and it is more than clear the direction they are pointing to. I still have faith in Mrs. Tisch to do the right thing and really think about the fairness and utility in making 50% of an evaluation to be based on test scores. I am waiting and watching, hoping and anticipating, but the decision is up to her to think and act fairly.
Faith in Tisch? Ha. She is the ultimate deformed/privatizer. It was Tisch who called these nys tests snapshots of a child’s education yet deems the worthy enough to judge an entire teachers year. Educators of ny should strike
Faith in Tisch? Let’s read the fine print and discuss. The new law sets forth that teachers of Regents subjects who do not have a state-provided growth score must use that exam to show growth. Yet “growth” cannot be achievement- in other words, students passing a Regents exam or showing levels of proficiency or mastery. Say, what? So how can growth be shown when no such model exists? How can growth be applied to a teacher or group of teachers when a model does not yet exist? Heck, SED just last week revised their RFQs for such models and exams. No list of acceptable tests yet exists! This is just one of many dangerous contradictions within the law. And there are plenty more. So, no, I do not have faith in Tisch, and I certainly do not have faith in the 10 regents who upheld this law. And I definitely do not have faith in the heavy hearts in Albany.
When I say I have faith, I mean that I am expectingg the other person to do the right thing simply because she has the ability and the vested authority to do so. There is no guarantee she will act accordingly, but I put the expectation upon her regardlessly in anticipation of something better, fair, and logical.
That is not at all to say that I don’t think other things should not be done either now or accordingly to how events play out. But I do believe in giving those in authority a chance to right the wrongs because that’s why they are there in the first place. I understand perfectly well their function in theory and in reality, and one of several things I can do right now is to hope the two shall merge.
But make no mistake that I am aware that one always needs more than hope.
If Dr. Ravitch can turn around, why not Dr. Tisch? I am waiting to see if this is a question of possibility vs. probability.
If Dr. Ravitch can turn around, why not Dr. Tisch?
Robert
I watched a brief news clip of both of them together (don’t have the link) but it answered that question beyond any reasonable doubt, for me at least.
Tisch monopolized the interview and barely allowed Diane to get in a word edgewise.
But when Diane did get in a few words, she did so in a way that indicated she approaches things rationally.
Tisch’s responses on the other hand, made it clear that she does not.
Tisch would rather listen to herself making silly arguments (which she obviously thinks are convincing) than actually think about whether they make sense.
I have zero faith that Tisch will “do the right thing”.
She simply does what Cuomo tells her to do.