(ALBANY, NEW YORK) – The New York State Educational Conference Board and New York State Education Department (NYSED) has announced an extraordinary agreement on legislation to rewrite the State’s poorly designed Teacher Evaluation System that was imposed in 2010.

A result of collaborative communication among organizations and State Leaders who care deeply about public education, the proposal was hand-delivered by New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) President Melinda Person and NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa to the offices of the Legislature’s Education Leaders.

The legislation, which was crafted by Educators, superintendents, school boards, administrators, parents and principals, returns the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) System to local control and creates a system for measuring Teacher and principal accountability that focuses on professional development and support, rather than an over-emphasis on testing.

Education Chairs - State Senator Shelley Mayer and Assembly Member Michael Benedetto, congratulated the collective for reaching agreement and pledged their attention to the Bill during this year’s Legislative session.

NYSUT President Person said: “Teachers welcome fair evaluations that are designed to help them hone their teaching skills and better serve students.  Returning Teacher evaluations to local control allows Educators to again put the emphasis back on what matters most in our classrooms - teaching and learning.  I want to acknowledge the tremendous collaboration that happened between all the different stakeholder groups who sat at the table and worked out the details of this almost fifty-page Bill.  If you value the love of teaching and learning in our public schools, if you think our Educators should be treated like the professionals they are, if you think that teaching to standardized tests has gone too far, then this is a great day.”

New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said: “We owe it to our students, Teachers, parents and families to work together to develop a comprehensive and sustainable Teacher Evaluation System that meets the needs of all of our school communities across the State.  Our focus is squarely on developing a system of continuous growth and development of Teachers and principals that fosters meaningful teaching and learning, empowering Educators to excel and students to thrive.  This proposed legislation, created with and for those impacted, is intended to accomplish that purpose.”

To Read This Labor News Story In Its Entirety, Go To: Education stakeholders reach agreement on fixing teacher and principal evaluations (nysut.org)