Gov. Cuomo (Natan Dvir)
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If Mayor Bloomberg and the city teachers union can’t come up with their own teacher-evaluation plan, Albany will step in and do it for them, Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders warned yesterday.
Cuomo said he’ll propose a law empowering the state Education Department to develop an evaluation plan if the two sides can’t end their standoff and come to an agreement “shortly.”
The city was among a handful of districts around the state that failed to meet a Jan. 17 deadline for submitting a state-approved evaluation plan — costing the Big Apple its $250 million, 4-percent state school-aid increase.
Cuomo made his threat on teacher evaluations after a 90-minute meeting with legislative leaders at the state Capitol.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate co-leaders Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) and Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) said they agreed with Cuomo’s plan.
“I think it’s appropriate to put in a system of default,” Silver said.
“I think SED [state Education Department] has to step in,” Klein said.
Cuomo and the leaders said they believe the plan should spur an agreement between the city and the United Federation of Teachers but wouldn’t put a deadline on it.
“Maybe with this default mechanism, this will give them a different perspective,” Cuomo said.
Bloomberg has repeatedly insisted he would rather give up the cash than accept a bad teacher- evaluation plan. But Cuomo’s move means that’s no longer an option.
A few hours before Cuomo made his announcement, the Bloomberg-backed “Students First” advocacy group filed a short-lived lawsuit to try to recoup the lost state aid, sources said.
But the lawsuit was quickly yanked after Cuomo called Bloomberg, sources said.
Students First, headed by former Bloomberg aide Micah Lasher, alleged the denial of aid violated court rulings ordering Albany to ensure funding sufficient for a sound, basic education for city kids.
Neither Lasher nor Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna would comment.
“The governor and the mayor have been speaking regularly about the evaluations issue, but I’m not privy to the nature of their conversations,” said Cuomo spokesman Matt Wing.
Cuomo insisted his latest move to step in on teacher evaluations isn’t a threat to collective bargaining.
“This is truly an extraordinary circumstance,” he said. “We have total respect for the system of collective bargaining.”
The Cuomo plan would ensure the city receives hundreds of millions dollars of state and federal aid in the future that are conditioned on an approved teacher-evaluation plan.
But he and legislative leaders said it’s too late for the city to try to recoup the $250 million it lost this month.
The Bloomberg administration wouldn’t comment on the Cuomo proposal.
“We are in active discussions with the UFT and, out of respect for those conversations, will reserve comment,” said Bloomberg spokeswoman Lauren Passalacqua.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew welcomed the move, saying, “While we would prefer a negotiated settlement, it’s good to know that should the talks fail again, people who actually understand education will be part of the decision-making process.”