Governor Cuomo, New Education Czar

Now that Commissioner John B. King, Jr has jumped ship as we learned on Wednesday, December 10, the opportunity for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to assume a greater role in educational policy making is more likely to happen. And a link is cited below on the appointments Cuomo made to his cabinet with the titles of deputy secretary of education, assistant secretary of education and an associate in education. With all the hedge fund donations lining his pockets, the Governor surely now can continue to collect more  money from what many have viewed as a conflict of interest for him and a political cash cow.

Governor Andrew Cuomo: New Education Czar?

By Douglas E. Gerhardt
"As widely reported in the press following the implausible statistic that 96 percent of teachers in New York state are effective or highly effective while at the same time, students in those schools are proficient in math and English to the tune of 34.8 percent and 31.4 percent, respectively, Governor Cuomo sent a December 18, 2014 letter to outgoing Commissioner King and Chancellor Tisch. In thatletter, the governor (actually through Director of State Operations Jim Malatras) posed 12 pointed (sometimes compounded) questions for the chancellor and commissioner to answer. These range from issues related to the clearly flawed APPR system of evaluating teachers to broader topics such as possible school consolidation, tenure laws and even selection of the Board of Regents. The final question encourages the chancellor and Board of Regents to design “an open and transparent selection process so parents, teachers, and legislators have a voice” in the selection process to replace Education Commissioner John King. Prior to the letter, Chancellor Tisch promised an honest selection process – nothing was said about openness or transparency. The chancellor did not mention what the alternative would be."