By Winnie Hu
(From New York Times, January 4th, 2011)
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says he is taking on a second job: lobbyist for students.
In his State of the State address on Wednesday, the governor pledged to wage a campaign to put students first because all of the other parties involved in public education — from superintendents to maintenance workers and bus drivers — have lobbyists promoting their interests. “It’s not about the business, it’s not about the lobbyists,” Mr. Cuomo said. “It’s about the students, and the achievement, and we have to switch that focus.”
But in a speech devoted largely to job creation and economic development, Mr. Cuomo offered few details on how he planned to fight what he called the state’s growing “public education bureaucracy.”
As expected, Mr. Cuomo announced that he would convene an education commission this year to recommend reforms in two major areas: teacher accountability and student achievement, and management efficiency.
He said only that its members would be jointly appointed with the State Legislature, leaving many unanswered questions about the makeup of the commission and how it would operate.
Mr. Cuomo said the commission needed to find ways to advance a statewide teacher evaluation system, saying that a 2010 state law mandating such a system had not worked.
“Two years and it hasn’t even started yet,” the governor said. “Our children deserve better than that, and hopefully they’ll get it this year.”
A new teacher and principal evaluation system was outlined in New York’s application to the federal Race to the Top program, which netted a $700 million grant, though efforts have stalled as some school districts and teachers’ and principals’ unions, including those in New York City, have been unable to agree on how to proceed.