A window to find consenus on school reform

January will mark 14 years since the federal No Child Left Behind Act began to change the way the United States tests and evaluates students and teachers. Changes were and still are badly needed, and the law was one of the most widely hailed bipartisan reforms in recent memory.

Yet in New York, we are no closer to a consensus on how to educate students and measure the effectiveness of educators than we were in 2001. And a lot of controversy stems from an explosive reaction against rigorous standards for teachers and students.

Standardized tests are a reality. High standards for students and teachers are a necessity. Yet Friday, many parents and educators spoke critically in Stony Brook to members of a commission set up by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The panel is reviewing Common Core standards the state adopted in 2010 to meet the national vision conceived in 2001.

Cuomo's commission has not been charged with addressing the controversial teacher evaluations, but forming the group is just one of the moves the state is making in its bid for peace.

New state education commissioner MaryEllen Elia is trying to calm waters so roiled by unions and furious parents that 20 percent of state students and almost 50 percent on Long Island opted out of state tests this past school year.

The Board of Regents is somewhere between in flux and insurrection. Chancellor Merryl Tisch, who has supported reform, is stepping down, though some say she's been forced out. The Regents have become steadily less firm in support of Common Core standards and performance-based evaluations, but Elia, who reports to the Regents, backs both.

And lawsuits here and nationally argue convincingly that tenure rules making it hard to fire incompetent teachers disproportionately harm poor and minority students.

In New York, advocates of Common Core standards and teacher evaluations based partially on test scores, and their opponents, seem dug in to the bunkers of their convictions. But for the moment, there is a sort of cease-fire, and it could allow for a peaceful solution.

No Child Left Behind requires that all students take standardized tests in math and English annually in third through eighth grades and at least once in high school. It also demands that states provide "highly qualified" teachers to all students, and that all students, schools and districts test at grade level by 2014 or face dire consequences. But it never set education standards for the states, defined "highly qualified" teachers or accounted for special-needs students.

Now, Washington politicians are trying to come up with reforms to the law everyone can live with. Nearly every state, including New York, has been granted a waiver from the law. But the waivers are in exchange for improving educational outcomes for all students, closing achievement gaps, increasing equity and improving instruction.

So New York adopted Common Core standards into law in 2010, achievement levels set by grade to ensure graduates are college- and career-ready. New York also came up with teacher evaluations based partly on student scores on standardized tests.

Nothing since has gone smoothly. The state Education Department underdelivered on curricula and lesson plans. New York also did a bad job of explaining the new standards to parents. And no one was prepared for how ferociously the New York State United Teachers union would fight evaluations that included student test performance and which brought an erosion of the tenure system.

In March, lawmakers passed another teacher eval system that makes student tests equal to classroom observation in value. However, teachers must do poorly in both categories before they suffer consequences. Many experts support this "multiple measures" approach, but NYSUT revolted. It sold the idea that kids would suffer because teachers would only teach to the annual spring tests of math and English skills. And the union, joined by parent activists, successfully led boycotts of the tests.

The politics got so wild the state decided districts can apply for waivers, this year and next, to postpone adopting the new teacher evaluation system. That's the window that exists to reach a compromise. But the law also says districts that don't adopt the changes won't get increases in state education funding. That's the threat.

Cuomo has hired Jere Hochman as his new deputy education secretary. Hochman, a Westchester County school superintendent until this past Friday, has advocated against some of the Common Core standards and the evaluation system.

The Regents are looking for improvements as well. And a state website now invites critiques of Common Core standards. All of these could help fix flaws.

But why would NYSUT compromise on teacher evaluations based on student testing, and encourage kids to opt back in? Hopefully, because allowing teachers to be judged on multiple measures is right. Because taking a stance in favor of incompetent teachers hurts kids. And because if Cuomo and the State Legislature stand firm, districts that don't agree to the evaluations will lose state funds.

The governor, the Regents and the state Education Department are doing their parts to fix the flaws. The teachers unions and the parents have to do their parts to make public schools work, too.