Vote Yes Then Pray

Governor Cuomo has been a strong supporter of education but has been criticized on how he has gone about education reform. In a recent budget proposal, Cuomo’s plan includes a financial carrot, an increase of over one billion dollars in state aid if the Assembly passes the budget and only 377 million if it does not pass. New York Sate wants local voters to vote on their school district budget before the state reveals their own budget. Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, a Democrat, says it is impracticable for districts to plan a budget without knowing the state aid they are going to receive. Many districts rely heavily on state aid, so not knowing the state budget will cause panic among local voters.

In Governor Cuomo’s 2015 Opportunity Agenda Plan, he presented a few new proposals to the education system. These proposals are making teacher evaluations based more on statewide tests, raising the number of charter schools, and if a school is failing to let it be taken over by an outside agency. Teachers unions have been vocal about the new schemes saying that if they do not abide by these new regulations, they feel they will not get the state funding which they need. While continuing to develop the education system to benefit the student is imperative, there are many sides to education reform.

The Governor has established a six-member committie of which two of the members of both the Legislative and the House are appointed by the Governor. The committee will develop new ideas to continue to reform the evaluation and report back to the legislature by June 1^st.  Cuomo stated that they stated would withhold aid until the evaluation is completed. The teachers unions are against the creation of the committee saying it will not achieve anything beneficial to the school districts and students. The unions suggest having school district employees being involved in the committee because they are the experts in the field. Will the committee come back with useful information that can be presented and benefit both sides or will it be heavily biased towards the New York State Education Department. Go to stop common core to learn about the common core and sign a petition to get rid of it.