Just two thirds of school districts in New York State have completed new teacher evaluation plans , one month before a deadline imposed by Governor Cuomo. The governor says if the rest don’t finish on time, they won’t see any increased school aid next year.
Governor Cuomo is standing firm against the 207 school districts across the state who have not yet received their required approval from the State Education Department on new teacher evaluation plans. Cuomo says if they miss his January 17th deadline, the schools will be left out of a planned increase in school aid in his new state budget.
“This was a hard deadline,” said Cuomo. “If you don’t get it done, that’s your business, but then you don’t get the 4% additional funding.”
The state’s Education Department says it’s approved 442 district plans, and is working with 180 remaining schools to fix problems in their plans.
“We’re providing constant feedback to school districts,” said Education Commissioner John King “And hundreds of districts and local unions have worked hard and gotten the job done. But there are still districts that have more work to do.”
27 school districts , ranging from New York City to rural Elizabethtown in the North Country, have still not submitted any teacher evaluation plans at all. The others are: Altmar Parish, Cobleskill-Richmondville, Coxsackie-Athens, East Ramapo, Elmont, Fallsburg, Greenburgh-North Castle, Hamburg, Harrison, Hempstead, Hopevale, Hyde Park, Montauk, New York Mills, North Greenbush, North Syracuse, Onteora, Pine Plains, Remsen, Rhinebeck, Rondout Valley, Sauquoit Valley, Schoharie, Scotia-Glenville, and Yonkers.