Testing is no way to judge teachers

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January 19, 2012

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Thu Jan 19, 2012, 02:25 AM EST

Like him or not _ and according to the latest polls, more then 70 percent of New Yorkers do _ you've got to give Andrew Cuomo credit for guts.

Here's a guy who probably looks in the mirror each morning and thinks he sees the Democrats' 2016 nominee for president of the United States.

But Tuesday, he ran the risk of offending New York's powerful teachers unions, big players in his party's primaries.

"There's a crisis in education in that the focus has become more about the business interests of the system than the student interests," Cuomo said in releasing his proposed budget. "Education is not supposed to be an employment program for the adults."

The $132.5 billion spending plan provided an $805 million increase in school aid, including $250 million linked to academic performance and management efficiency.

High-needs school districts, including most schools in our area, will receive 76 percent of the allocated increase and 69 percent of total school aid.

Delhi Central School Superintendent Jason Thomson said the totals he has seen are "a far cry from the 4 percent promised" by Cuomo.

The Delhi district is scheduled to receive a 1.36 percent increase, or about $111,000, this on top of losing at least $300,000 in federal funds this year.

Thomson took a Cuomo promise to be a lobbyist for children as a slap at educators.

"That's why I'm in this," he said. "I care, and I believe I can make a difference."

But measuring that difference has always been difficult.

Cuomo called for an end to a lawsuit between the state Education Department and the New York State United Teachers union over a proposed teacher-evaluation system that enables the state to keep about $1 billion in federal funding.

What the governor wants is to tie teacher evaluation standards to students' test scores.

While that seems like a logical goal, what has happened over the last several years is that teachers are virtually forced to "teach to the tests" rather than give their students a more-rounded education.

Think we're wrong? Ask a high school graduate if he or she has ever heard of Joan of Arc. We asked several, and didn't get one knowledgeable reply. We can only assume that no questions about Saint Joan appeared on any of the tests.

Our point is that so many important things well-known to past generations are not common knowledge when it comes to young adults ... because teachers have had to teach to the tests.

Sadly, as long as educators will be judged by students' test scores, we'll continue to pay a high price, and not just in taxes.