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midnight madness

March 16, 2012

Behind the surprising late-night teacher evaluation bill approval

by Philissa Cramer, at 6:33 pm

When revisions to the state’s teacher evaluation law came before the State Senate late Wednesday night, not a single senator cast a “no” vote.

That’s because nearly all of the Senate Democrats had walked out of the Senate chambers to protest a controversial redistricting deal. While they were out, Senate Republicans made quick work of bills that had already been approved by the Assembly. That included the teacher and principal evaluation bill.

The situation meant that the evaluations bill garnered just 36 “yes” votes. Just four of those votes came from senators who represent the city. Two were from the city’s two Republican state senators and two were from two Democrats who are part of an independent caucus.

In the Assembly, the bill passed 91 to 49 and found only scarce opposition from city representatives. About half of the Assembly members from outside of New York City voted against the bill, but just six of the city’s 64 Assembly representatives voted against the bill. The nay votes came from Inez Barron, James Brennan, Joseph Lentol, Vito Lopez, all of Brooklyn; Staten Island’s Louis Tobacco; and Deborah Glick of Manhattan.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo brought the bill before the Senate and Assembly by terming them “measures of necessity.” That means that the legislators could dispense with the traditional three-day public review period before voting on the bills. And by turning the teacher evaluation bill into a stand-alone bill whose passage would come as part of an annual event known as “the big ugly” — a complex deal over multiple bills — Cuomo ensured that the issue would not interfere with budget negotiations. Originally, he had proposed changes to the evaluation law through the budget amendment process.

The timing came as a shock to principals who have been protesting the evaluation system. But they have readied their promised lobbying ad anyway, and it will appear next week in the Legislative Gazette, an Albany publication, even though it will be too late to influence votes. The principals say they have an ethical responsibility to speak out against a law they believe will hurt schools and teachers.

A larger version of the ad is below.

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  • Ellen

    The Young Prince strikes again!  Ya gotta admire his knowledge of the arcane and mysterious.  Who knew there was such a thing as a “measure of necessity”?  Obviously not the Democrats.
    May way….make way…. for the Young Prince cometh……

  • Vote NO!

    Don’t  be  too  surprised  if  this  evaluation  law,  as  seemingly  innocuous  as  it  may  seem  to  most  outside  of  education,  ends  up  being  Cuomo’s  political  undoing.

     Like  a  tsunami  wave  in  the  deep  ocean,  it  isn’t  noticed  until  it  reaches  the  coastline.   This  law  will  not  show  its  disastrous  effects  until  it  is  implemented.

  • methinkssomethingamiss

    The undoing will come with the scandal connecting Obama,Duncan,Klein,Murdoch,Tisch,King,Cuomo and Bloombergs billions–How else can seemingly intelligent people ignore data with an 87% margin of error and all call it vital parent information. They feel so superior in their actions that they have become to blatant in their ties together all spouting the same talking points.

  • http://perdidostreetschool.com/ reality-based educator

    When these new changes bring chaos to schools – and make no mistake, tying 40% of teacher evaluations to tests that haven’t been created yet using value-added measurements that also haven’t been created yet in order to fire teachers in two years who get stamped “ineffective” in this half-baked system WILL bring chaos – will the politicians who pushed these measures (like Governor Cuomo) and the politicians who voted for them be held accountable?

    In addition, will NYSED Commissioner John King and Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch be held accountable for pushing a system that declares teachers “ineffective” even if they score “effective” on all three components of the evaluation?  Will they held accountable for turning schools into test factories ruled by fear?

  • guest

    wake up people.  The Obama administration is directly behind these changes.  The future of public education is to be determined by a small group of political insiders with conflicts of interests galore.  They will pad their ranks by offering patronage to their friends and family.  As long as you stay silent, you will keep your position.  If you thought the Republicans were bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.  Remember, it is the enemy within that destroys.  Where is a Senator Wellstone when we need him.  Who will stand up and cry, “Hold on.”

  • Carol Burris

    Trust us. We are awake. We will not sit down and shut up. Pottery Barn Rule… Cuomo broke it and now he and his clueless SED own it.

  • Carol Burris

    One hides from the light of day what one is ashamed of…..
    “Gov. Andrew Cuomo brought the bill before the Senate and Assembly by terming them “measures of necessity.” That means that the legislators could dispense with the traditional three-day public review period before voting on the bills. And by turning the teacher evaluation bill into a stand-alone bill whose passage would come as part of an annual event known as “the big ugly” — a complex deal over multiple bills — Cuomo ensured that the issue would not interfere with budget negotiations. Originally, he had proposed changes to the evaluation law through the budget amendment process.”

  • bee

    Kudos to Brennan, Barron and the others who voted against this measure!

  • My child is NOT a test score

    It’s time for PARENTS to get outraged at these clear attacks on the lives of the most fundamental guiding forces in our children’s lives.  As well, the insincere, corrupted use of these tests needs to be seriously considered by parents, making us question if we want our children being used as pawns in this horrible plan.  Take note, dear Legislators, you are waking a sleeping giant….

  • Jo Dama

    No politician ever gets held accountable.  Boy am I glad I’m not a young, new teacher.  I work with a lot of young, dedicated teachers who spent tens of thousands of dollars to go to TC and NYU.  They admit they wasted their money because it doesn’t matter where you went to school or how much experience you have.  All that matters is that you don’t have tenure, children of your own, and you don’t cost too much.  Once any of these three factors changes, you will be rated ineffective and shown the door.  

  • kk, parent

    This makes me sick to my stomach. 36 votes?! 
    “Government by the people, for the people”–where art thou?

  • Marie Mounteer

    4 people representing a city of 8 million voted for this?! That is horrifying. Thanks to these principals who are standing for our rights more than our union is! My friends and I created this petition to tell our union to stand with these principals and not allow us to be evaluated by value added test scores. Fight with us by signing it and passing it along!

    http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-public-shaming-and-unjust-firing-of-teachers 

  • Brian E Preston

    We will begin to see the real effects here as teachers must be told throughout the state that some number of teacher will be let go to pay for the significant unfunded costs of this scheme.  This is not research-based, it’s expensive, and combined with the Governor’s tax caps, will start producing real destruction of quality education in New York in about 2 years. 

  • http://twitter.com/JimDevor Jim Devor

    Meanwhile, people who I by and large respect, like Maisel, Gottfried and Cathy Nolan voted FOR the bill.  Further, the UFT obviously did not go the mattresses on this.  So, what IS the content of the new law and what, if any, compromises were made?

  • Kevin McIntyre

    One of the thing that really gets me is how grown men and women walk out and shirk their responsibilities to their constituents because things aren’t going their way. That’s how we avoided dealing with things in elementary school. Legislators — grow up!!

  • Kevin McIntyre

     Don’t we vote for or against them. Isn’t that how we hold them accountable. The problem is rallying the people against politicians who are not doing their job. We don’t need a test to show that. But people are uninformed and bedazzled by the rhetoric — don’t confuse them with the facts. A well-spoken politician will get elected if they have the charisma. They just need the words and that smile.

  • http://0800nummern.net/ Paula Hinze

    obama must get a nother secend time!

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