Delay weighed for NYS teacher ratings debut
Dr. John B. King, Jr., New York State Education Commissioner speaking at Hofstra University's Distinguished Lecture Series Breakfast. (Feb. 2, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan
State school officials who face a tight schedule for completing their first job ratings of teachers are weighing a delayed delivery of those evaluations to local districts.
Such a delay beyond the original June 15 due date could create headaches for districts that need to finish their own teacher evaluations by the close of classes around June 22, local administrators say.
Tuesday, state education chief John B. King Jr. told Newsday his department was weighing a time extension to complete its complex project, which will evaluate teachers based on students' scores on state tests. Evaluations are supposed to consider such factors as students' poverty and disabilities, and the mathematical formula needed to do that is being developed.
"The deadline is now September for the completion of the entire evaluation," King said, following a meeting with the state Board of Regents in Albany. "So we're reviewing that [June 15] deadline."
Sept. 1 is the target date for completing overall evaluations, which will include both state and local portions. That target is included in a revised law approved last week by state legislators; Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to sign it within the next week or so.
The initial round of evaluations is expected to cover about 52,000 teachers and principals statewide, including 7,000 on Long Island.
Prospects of a delay elicited groans from Island school officials Tuesday. "Anything that delays us in having evaluations ready by June 30 is going to make it counterproductive," said Alan Groveman, superintendent of Connetquot schools and president of the Suffolk County Association of School Superintendents.
Bill Johnson, Rockville Centre schools chief, made a similar point. "I'm not going to pay people to come back in the summertime," said Johnson, a former president of the State Council of School Superintendents.
At Tuesday's Albany meeting, the Regents approved regulations needed to carry out the new evaluations law. Those regulations also detail the evaluation system agreed to last month by Cuomo, King and Richard Iannuzzi, president of the New York State United Teachers union.
Under the evaluation system, teachers will be rated on a scale of up to 100 points. Albany will award up to 20 of those points, based on state test results. Local districts will award remaining points, based both on assessments locally selected and on subjective criteria such as classroom observations.
