Students’ Standardized Test Scores Will Factor Into Teachers’ Tenor According to Mayor

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced in a statement on Wednesday that, starting immediately, New York City public schools would begin to use test scores to gauge which teachers should or should not receive tenure.

This move has been bitterly opposed by the teachers union, which claims that this is putting too much weight on standardized exams, such as the citywides, and regents exams.

Although most do agree that standardized tests are not a good measure of students’ capabilities, the state government still puts a ton of stock in them. Standardized tests are used to decide teacher and principal bonus pay, assign A through F grades to schools, which schools are shut down, and which schools get more funding. Now, the mayor is even using these scores to decide which teachers should be fired and which should not.

Mayor Bloomberg and secretary of education, Arne Duncan, also called on the state legislature to makes a number of changes in the education system, that would help New York State compete for funding in the so-called Race to the Top federal grants. Bloomberg also states that the Legislature should now require all districts to better evaluate teachers and principals with “data-driven systems,” which help with the Race to the Top grants.

“The only thing worse than having to lay off teachers would be laying off great teachers instead of failing teachers,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “With a transparent new evaluation system, principals would have the ability to make layoffs based on merit — but only if the State Legislature gives us the authority to do it.”

The Bloomberg administration also takes the stance that the state should allow teacher layoffs based on performance rather than seniority, as it is now.

However, Sheldon Silver, the assembly speaker, said that the mayor would not find satisfaction in Albany and should negotiate with the United Federation of Teachers.

The teacher’s union successfully lobbied the legislature to ban the use of test scores in tenure decision for teachers hired after July 1, 2008. This law will however, expire next year. If the Legislature does not renew this law, the city gets the power to hire or fire teachers based on student test score performance.