Governor Won’t Force New Teacher Evaluation System Through Budget to End Stalemate, Rebuffing Mayor on Key Issue
By Jacob Gershman
(From The Wall Street Journal, February 15th, 2012)
ALBANY–Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday dealt a blow to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, signaling that he wouldn’t use his budgetary powers to help the city win a labor dispute that has held up a new system to evaluate public schoolteachers’ performance.
The Bloomberg administration had wanted Mr. Cuomo’s help in its fight with the United Federation of Teachers, with their stalemate over a job-performance system jeopardizing a central priority of the mayor’s third term and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state funding.
But, in a Capitol news conference, Mr. Cuomo said Mr. Bloomberg and the UFT have to strike a deal themselves on the key issue separating them: the process for teachers to appeal poor ratings.
“I don’t have a specific plan between the [union] and the city. By definition, this is a locally bargained factor of the plan,” Mr. Cuomo said.
Administration officials said Mr. Cuomo’s considerable power on budget matters–his budget bills must be approved at the risk of a government shutdown–is limited to fiscal issues. By inserting a provision for handling rating appeals into a budget bill with no clear connection to monetary issues, officials said they risked a court fight with the Legislature that they would probably lose.
It would also set a risky precedent for the governor to get involved in a local labor dispute, officials said.
“This isn’t the governor’s role,” said an administration official. “It’s really the mayor’s job, and we are trying to help. The governor isn’t going to negotiate all city contracts.”