Gov. Cuomo's education agenda: A teacher separates fact from fiction (Commentary)

John W. Mannion, a parent and teacher, is president of the West Genesee Teachers' Association.
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Is Gov. Andrew Cuomo telling you the truth? He is not an education reformer, he is an opportunist. In an effort to accommodate his charter school and hedge fund manager campaign contributors, the governor has crafted a scenario that gives the appearance of failure in your child's school. He has indiscriminately told 600,000 dedicated professionals: You are failures. A New York teaching certificate and a Regents Diploma from a New York-accredited school were once considered benchmarks, held in high regard in other areas of the country. State education departments aspired to obtain the reputation that New York state had and, in most ways, still does.
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Before the Post-Standard's Editorial Board gives Governor Cuomo's education agenda two thumbs up, there are a few facts that should be clarified.
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Misconception #1: Only 30 percent of students are proficient in Math and English.
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Truth: In 2012, more than 60 percent of students in New York state were proficient in these disciplines. What caused this dramatic decrease? Two things: 1) The new tests were both flawed and developmentally inappropriate, and 2) the cut lines were changed. So, a previously proficient student became a failure.
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For example: The percentage of students in the Westhill Central School District who were deemed proficient (scoring a 3 or 4) on the state English Language Arts exam was 86 percent in 2012; that number dropped to 40 percent in 2014. The 2012 results more accurately represent Westhill students. In many cases, students taking accelerated courses, achieving grades of 90 or above, and making honor roll scored a 2 on this exam. This exam result suggests that a student like this is not on the path towards college and career readiness, which is laughable.
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The test scores are a result of a fabrication to show that schools are failing. Did 46 percent of students stop learning over the course of just two years? The school was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2013, the year in between the exam dates above. The federal government hailed the excellence of Westhill teachers. Now we are told that 60% of students can't read.
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Misconception #2: 96 percent of teachers are effective or highly effective.
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Truth: Evaluating teachers is not the problem. Teachers have always been evaluated, and teachers need to be evaluated. The current system is labor intensive, arbitrary and invalid. Furthermore, the APPR evaluation system is a huge distraction to administrators, teachers and the general public. This takes the focus of everyone off of Cuomo's real agenda: privatization. The No. 1 focus should be on learning. That's where educators have always focused. This discussion pushes us further and further from that.
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The governor is savvy. In his State of the State address, Cuomo put two numbers next to each other that a layman assumes are valid. He pointed out that 96 percent of the state's public school teachers were rated effective or highly effective under the teacher evaluation plan he proposed two years ago. But they're only preparing 30 percent of their students for success.
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The governor must have decided that we need a set number of failing teachers. Therefore the data must be manipulated for his hypothesis to be correct. It's also why Common Core tests do not have a set passing mark -- because a certain number of the students must fail each year. Merit pay for teachers does the same thing as APPR: it creates division, pitting one teacher against one another and teacher against administrator. It impedes collaboration for the benefit of children.
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Misconception #3: Teachers and schools are failing your children.
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Truth: Changes were made to the teacher evaluation system - which is inconsistent and unfair -- at the same time that the Common Core Standards were implemented. These standards were rushed out; school districts were not given enough time to develop curriculum and lessons around them. The tests aligned to these standards were not piloted. The cut lines for proficiency on English and Math exams in grade 3-8 were then adjusted. The supposed intent of the exams is to provide teachers with data to drive the instruction, yet they receive no information regarding what areas of the exam their students struggle on. Teachers simply receive a grade between 1 and 20, no analysis of their students' progress.
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It is not teacher evaluations that are the problem, nor new curriculum, decreased funding or more testing. The problem is not that schools are trying to overcome the ever increasing needs of students with less funding. It is the perfect storm. Teachers are turning their heads, wondering which new initiative they need to address. The greater crime in all of this is that it is done under the guise of saving children from the dreadful state that public schools will impose on them. Education reform is stealing away the joy of education. The changes are being driven by billionaires seeking a guaranteed profit.
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Misconception #4: Cuomo's agenda will help children.
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Truth: Anyone in education will tell you that the combination of new evaluations, new curriculum, decreased funding and an emphasis on testing are destroying public education. Ask your children, their teachers, their administrators if the past four years have been better for kids. The honest answer is no. This experiment is a failure.
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The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had the unique ability to frame a philosophy or position in just a sentence or two. He said, "In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." It is time for the friends of public education, teachers, students, graduates, administrators and legislators to be silent no more; we are losing a generation of children.
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