7 NY 'Teachers of the Year' to Gov. Cuomo: ‘You Have Made Us the Enemy'

Barbara Boland | February 11, 2015
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"You have made us the enemy," wrote seven New York State Teachers of the Year in an open letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.). The rollout of the Common Core standards has been “difficult” and was done “without any time to see if [the standards] were developmentally appropriate or useful," they say. Along with criticizing the new standards, the letter blasts Cuomo for tying half a teacher’s evaluation to students’ test scores.

“Our students were given new tests—of questionable validity—before they had a chance to develop the skills necessary to be successful,” says the letter written by Rich Ognibene, 2008 New York State Teacher of the Year. The open letter was published in the Albany Times Union.

The governor is “doubling down on test scores as a proxy for teacher effectiveness,” says the letter. “The state has focused on test scores for years and this approach has proven to be fraught with peril. Testing scandals erupted. Teachers who questioned the validity of tests were given gag orders.”

The seven Teachers of the Year who signed the letter are concerned that tying test scores to evaluations will result in a greater inequalities between rich and poor districts, asking: “If the state places this much emphasis on test scores who will want to teach our neediest students? Will you assume that the teachers in wealthier districts are highly effective and the teachers in poorer districts are ineffective, simply based on test scores?”

“We understand the value of collecting data, but it must be interpreted wisely,” says the letter. “Using test scores as 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation does not meet this criterion.”

This letter doesn’t pull any punches, saying: “You have made us the enemy. This is personal.” The letter was signed by Ashli Dreher (2014), Katie Ferguson (2012); Jeff Peneston (2011); Rich Ognibene (2008); Marguerite Izzo (2007); Steve Bongiovi (2006); and Liz Day (2005.)

 

 

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