Scarsdale – Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-88) is pleased to announce that she has introduced legislation (A.9829) designed to protect school districts from losing increases in state aid provided to them by the Legislature in the last two years.

The Education Transformation Act of 2015 (the 2015 Act) required school districts to change their plans for annual teacher and principal evaluations by November 15, 2015, which deadline was extended to September 1, 2016. Under the 2015 Act, if districts do not comply by that date, they will lose their state aid increases.

The changes required by the 2015 Act necessitate school districts to undertake significant work in order to develop a plan that complies with the 2015 Act, a task rendered nearly impossible in the time frame imposed. To protect school districts from losing their state aid increases, this bill will allow school districts to either use their plans for annual teacher and principal evaluations that complied with law prior to the 2015 Act or change their plan to comply with the 2015 Act.

“Schools shouldn’t be punished for being unable to develop a new teacher and principal evaluation plan by a deadline that was unrealistic from the outset,” Paulin said.

Many Westchester-based lawmakers agree with Paulin.

“Our schools have been working diligently to comply with the rapidly changing teacher evaluation laws. They should be allowed to use plans developed under either Education Law 3012-c or 3012-d without losing state aid. This bill is a pragmatic approach to helping school districts achieve their goals,” Assemblywoman Sandy Galef (D-95) said.

“Delinking the Annual Professional Performance Reviews from public school aid is simply the right thing to do,” Assemblyman David Buchwald (D-93) said. “It is not appropriate to withhold funding that impacts students and taxpayers while New York State figures out how teacher evaluations will move forward in our state. I am pleased to co-sponsor Assemblywoman Paulin’s crucial piece of legislation and to stand with her on behalf of our public schools.”

Mary Fox Alter, Superintendent of Pleasantville Schools and President of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents is also in favor of the bill.

“The public schools in our region greatly appreciate the end of GEA and the increased level of state aid in the 2016-17 state budgets,” Alter said. “However, there is a danger that the new aid will be lost unless legislation that expressly decouples that aid from implementation of 3012-d, the new Teacher Evaluation Plan, is passed this session. A strong and meaningful teacher evaluation system requires time and a thoughtful, research based approach – not one held hostage to a negotiations deadline in an ever-changing environment. Assemblywoman Paulin’s bill recognizes that and we thank her for her efforts to that end.”

Dr. Peter Giarrizzo, Superintendent of Pelham Schools said “Assemblywoman Amy Paulin understands the difficulty school districts face when laws and deadlines change rapidly. Implementing a meaningful teacher evaluation plan is a rigorous exercise that must be done well or students will suffer. Losing state aid is a drastic punitive measure. I for one am appreciative that Amy has used common sense and introduced this law giving us the option of working with the evaluation plans we currently have in place.”

Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti (D-92) stated, “Evaluation plans need to be carefully tailored to assess how every teacher and administrator helps a student progress. This legislation will prevent school districts from losing state aid because they cannot meet an arbitrary unrealistic deadline, recognizing that properly fashioning these plans requires extensive time and effort. “

Paulin has another bill (A.9461) that addresses the issue as well as requires the formation of a committee of experts in the field of education to create a clear, well-researched teacher and principal evaluation model, and that will carefully examine the current evaluation system and recommend what components should be continued and what should be discarded.

“School districts are more than willing to engage their respective communities in meaningful evaluation processes,” said Dr. Thomas Hagerman, Superintendent of Scarsdale Schools. “If these are to be constructive and valid communication tools for teachers and administrators, they must include a thoughtful process aimed at meeting these goals. Assemblywoman Amy Paulin recognizes that quality, not expediency, should be the driving force in this work, and we appreciate her proposed legislation to make sure that happens.”

“The current teacher/principal evaluation plan that the majority of schools have in place today is indisputably, poorly designed and not research-based. It is outrageous, to deny school districts crucial state aid increases by requiring them to move to an even more punitive evaluation plan that weighs problematic test scores even more. Until the evaluation law is completely revamped and an expert committee is formed to create a sound, researched-based plan that is right for New York, teachers, principals, and schools will continue to be mislabeled based on flawed measures,” said Lisa Rudley, Westchester County public school parent and founding member of NYS Allies for Public Education.

Westchester Putnam School Boards Association Executive Director Lisa Davis stated, “The current moratorium on the use of state assessments for evaluation creates an opportunity for NYS to get it right by implementing a taskforce to develop a thoughtful research-based evaluation process. We support high standards and an accountability system for students and staff that consider the "whole" child and the "whole" teacher. School districts must be held harmless financially while the State develops a more appropriate tool. Our communities, teachers and students deserve nothing less.”