State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch wants to give school districts, including the city’s, another year to implement the state-mandated teacher evaluation system.
The evaluation plan was written into law by Gov. Cuomo with the passage of the state budget on March 30.
Tisch said Cuomo’s deadline of Nov. 15 for districts to approve the new teacher rating system — which could tie 50% of instructor evaluations to student performance on standardized tests — is unrealistic.
Instead, Tisch wants to give districts until Sept. 1, 2016.
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“Our students deserve the best education we can give them, and a well-thought out, effective evaluation system is integral to providing that education,” Tisch said in a statement sent to reporters Wednesday night.
“We’ll continue our work to develop a fair, effective evaluation plan.”
Tisch’s proposal did not sit well in Albany.
“The law is clear that the additional state funding is linked to a teacher evaluation system, just like last year,” said Alphonso David, counsel to the governor. “The State Education Department and Chancellor Tisch should do their job properly and competently and enact the regulations governing the process by the end of June as prescribed by the law.
“Under existing law, SED may have a hardship exemption procedure if SED defines the process by regulation and if the hardship is genuine and due to a particular circumstance, but that is the exception not the rule.”
