Assembly set to pass Cuomo bill requiring limited disclosure of teacher evals
Last Updated: 1:25 PM, June 19, 2012
Posted: 1:04 PM, June 19, 2012
Print ALBANY — A last-ditch bill by Gov. Cuomo to require limited disclosure of teacher evaluations is getting a warm reception from state lawmakers as they finish up their 2012 session this week.
The Democratic-controlled Assembly says it will pass the bill Cuomo submitted shortly before midnight last night – the governor’s self-imposed deadline for new legislation this year.
There’s no word yet on the fate of the bill in the Republican-controlled Senate but insiders give it slightly better than even odds.
Cuomo, reportedly under some pressure from legislative leaders to move on the issue, submitted a bill that gives parents broad access to evaluations for their own children’s teachers without a formal meeting with school officials.
But it shields teacher names from wider public disclosure, requiring an overall breakdown of teacher performance by school and grade.
Cuomo has said he would not waive a rule that requires bills to “age” three days before being voted on, so since lawmakers plan to end their regular annual session on Thursday any new bill had to be introduced by midnight last night.
“I think the governor did a great job balancing the competing interests, and we’re going to move forward,” Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Catherine Nolan (D-Queens) said today. “I think the bill strikes the right balance between parents’ right to know some information about their kids’ teachers, though it’s a snapshot, and the idea that the details of teachers’ professional development is not something they’re going to be hounded on.”
A state appellate court last year ordered the full, public disclosure of the city’s current Teacher Data Reports, a less comprehensive form of evaluation than what school districts are expected to develop by next year under new state rules adopted in February.
Mayor Bloomberg favors full disclosure of teacher evaluations.
The Democratic-controlled Assembly says it will pass the bill Cuomo submitted shortly before midnight last night – the governor’s self-imposed deadline for new legislation this year.
There’s no word yet on the fate of the bill in the Republican-controlled Senate but insiders give it slightly better than even odds.
Cuomo, reportedly under some pressure from legislative leaders to move on the issue, submitted a bill that gives parents broad access to evaluations for their own children’s teachers without a formal meeting with school officials.
But it shields teacher names from wider public disclosure, requiring an overall breakdown of teacher performance by school and grade.
Cuomo has said he would not waive a rule that requires bills to “age” three days before being voted on, so since lawmakers plan to end their regular annual session on Thursday any new bill had to be introduced by midnight last night.
“I think the governor did a great job balancing the competing interests, and we’re going to move forward,” Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Catherine Nolan (D-Queens) said today. “I think the bill strikes the right balance between parents’ right to know some information about their kids’ teachers, though it’s a snapshot, and the idea that the details of teachers’ professional development is not something they’re going to be hounded on.”
A state appellate court last year ordered the full, public disclosure of the city’s current Teacher Data Reports, a less comprehensive form of evaluation than what school districts are expected to develop by next year under new state rules adopted in February.
Mayor Bloomberg favors full disclosure of teacher evaluations.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/assembly_set_teacher_pass_cuomo_IvPLTXV8B4SQgovhr6u0eM#ixzz1yIODj1lq
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Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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