ALBANY — Tensions over a teacher evaluation system erupted Tuesday between the state’s two most powerful Democrats.
Gov. Cuomo in a statement accused Assembly Democrats, led by Speaker Sheldon Silver, of putting the interests of the teachers unions before the students.
Cuomo singled out the Assembly Dems for what he deemed a faulty 2010 teacher evaluation law passed in order to qualify for federal Race To The Top funds.
The law required that a new teacher evaluation system be subject to negotiations between each local district and their teacher unions.
The city recently lost millions of dollars after failing to reach a deal with the union by the end-of-the-year deadline.
“The Assembly-led legislation in 2010 protected the teachers union at the expense of the students and instituted a system that was destined to fail,” Cuomo said.
On Monday, Cuomo questioned on an Albany radio show whether that was the intent of lawmakers.
“It is unworkable,” Cuomo said. “Some would say it was unworkable by design.”
Cuomo wants a new law passed to overhaul the evaluation system.
He cited New York’s inclusion by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on “the watch-list for failure” that jeopardizes hundreds of millions of dollars in Race To The Top funding.
“Despite the powerful interests working to protect the status quo at the expense of our students’ success, this state must become a national leader in student performance,” Cuomo said Tuesday.
Silver defended the 2010 law, saying “it led to an award of nearly $700 million for the state with an application that was scored as the second best in the country.”
One source noted that the law Cuomo is attacking was written by his deputy secretary for legislative affairs, who worked for the Assembly Dems in 2010.
“Everybody expected this would eventually happen,” said one insider. “It looks like this could be the start of things getting ugly between the two.”
Earlier Tuesday, Silver poked at Cuomo’s claim during last week’s State of the State address that the governor also considers himself the sole lobbyist for students.
“The most powerful lobbying groups for our students is their parents and that’s beyond dispute,” Silver told a group of education activists at the Capitol.
klovett@nydailynews.com
