Peter Greene analyzes the letter written to state leaders on behalf of Governor Cuomo by the state operations director, Jim Malatros. Cuomo has little direct control of education, except through the budget process, because the State Assembly appoints the state Board of Regents. Nonetheless, Cuomo uses this letter to lay out his aggressive, anti-teacher agenda. He wants an evaluation system that will rate more teachers ineffective. He wants merit pay. He wants a vast expansion of charters, perhaps enough to serve “all” the state’s children.

Clearly, Cuomo doesn’t know that none of his pet ideas have no research or evidence to support them. He doesn’t know that rating teachers by student test scores has proven to be unstable and inaccurate. Even the American Statistical Association warned against using test-based accountability for grading individual teachers. But no one has told the governor.

Merit pay has been tried for nearly a century. It has never worked.

Charters have proven to be no more successful than public schools when they serve the same children, and in some states, they are worse than public schools because their teachers turn over faster, are less qualified, and are often paid less.

Someone should warn the governor.