ALBANY, N.Y.—The New York State Assembly passed a bill May 2 that would let local school districts set
their own requirements for evaluating teachers. It would eliminate the state’s 2015 mandate that up to half of a teacher’s annual rating had to be based on their students’ performance on state math and English tests from third through eighth grades and on high-school Regents exams. The measure may face opposition from the Republican majority in the state Senate, but two GOP senators, James Tedisco of Saratoga Springs and Carl Marcellino of Long Island, introduced a bill in late April that would prohibit the use of statewide test results in teacher performance reviews. “It’s time we close the book on the era of over-testing,” Tedisco, a former special education teacher, told the Albany Times-Union. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had pushed for the mandate to use students’ test scores, but agreed to a moratorium until 2019 after protests from parents and teachers. “Nothing will change for New York City teachers,” United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew told the Chalkbeat education blog, “except that the threat was hanging over us… is not there if we get this law passed.” Read more
