Gov. Cuomo will give New York’s teachers one month to agree to a statewide performance evaluation plan — or he’ll write his own educator-rating scheme into the budget for legislative approval, The Post has learned.
In the ultimatum — which Cuomo will level at the United Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers as he presents his budget today — the governor will also insist the state union drop its lawsuit challenging certain provisions of the evaluation system, a source close to the administration said.
The governor would have up to 30 days to present a budget amendment that spells out the details of a teacher-rating system, something he promises to do if the unions don’t sign on.
Districts would then have until early next January to get the new system up and running or else the state would withhold a 4 percent increase in school aid, sources said.
That time frame would also keep the feds from pulling more than $700 million in Race to the Top and other education funds that are contingent upon the adoption of a meaningful evaluation system of New York’s educators.
A source close to the teachers unions claimed Cuomo is taking the hard stance only because he has already been informed that unions and districts are already nearing a resolution on the evaluation system.
The ratings system, which calls for an expedited process for removing teachers who rank near the bottom for two straight years, was supposed to cover math and reading teachers in grades 4 to 8 this year.
The statewide system was signed into law in 2010 and approved by the state Board of Regents last year, but it crumbled this winter when school districts and unions couldn’t round out certain details.
Talks over the evaluations broke down in the city last month when Department of Education officials refused to consider the UFT’s insistence that teachers who receive poor ratings be allowed to appeal them to an independent arbitrator. Appeals of bad ratings are currently handled by the schools chancellor.
A Cuomo source called the notion that the governor knew about a pending deal between unions and districts before today’s hard-line budget announcement “preposterous, ridiculous, no truth whatsoever.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), a staunch union ally, remained mum yesterday as The Post exclusively reported that Cuomo would tie the rating system to the state budget, an indication the Legislature’s most powerful voice would not stand in the governor’s way.
“The speaker is in no mood to hold up the budget over teacher evaluations or anything else, especially in an election year,” said a source close to Assembly Democrats.
Additional reporting by David Seifman