Dear colleagues, 

This week, in the middle of the night, the Legislature approved the revised APPR bill, a bill that gives John King new powers over plan approval, and codifies the primacy of test scores in evaluations.  If plans are not to his approval, he can reject them and ultimately impose his OWN.  
The usual three days that a bill should be public were  bypassed. That is an affront to the democratic process. To read HOW this was done, click here 
http://gothamschools.org/2012/03/16/behind-the-surprising-late-night-teacher-evaluation-bill-approval/#.T2SDy9Y2Ekt.twitter  

To see how your assembly member or Senator voted see here: 

http://roundtheinkwell.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/assembly-vote-on-appr.pdf 

http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S 

It is important that you contact your legislator and insist that they immediately amend the law to address the following three issues. Thank those who voted no, and ask them to introduce the amended law to include: 

1.. Applying  the evaluation confidentiality provisions of Civil Rights Law §50-a to teachers and principals. 
2  Changing the scoring ranges so that the 60-point category,which measures instructional quality, can have a meaningful 
impact on the final score.  40% should never be 100%, and test scores should never trump all. 
3 Allowing a two-year hold harmless period during which APPR operates on a pilot basis. Such pilots are commonplace in other states. 
4. Granting increases in state aid to ALL districts, regardless of APPR status. 

You can find out how to contact your legislator here:  http://www.newyorkprincipals.org/legislators 
Please act today!  Albany needs to hear us NOW.  thanks, Carol