Cuomo: Let’s talk about school performance

Gov. Andrew Cuomo expanded on the tax cap debate a few minutes ago, saying that education funding should be based more on performance of teachers and school systems, instead of giving out money based on formulas based on wealth, enrollment and other factors.

“We are talking about the tax cap,” he told Susan Arbetter on the Capitol Pressroom, “And you’re going to hear me talking about something else which I have talked about but I’m going to talk about more which is performance in government, output.”

“We fund school districts basically as block grants,” Cuomo went on.  “Where is performance in that equation? Where is funding for teachers that do a better job than other teachers or schools that do a better job than other schools or districts? Where is the performance? Where are the bonuses?”

“Funding of education is not funding the business interests of education,” Cuomo added. “We should start talking about funding performance in education and lets start looking at this situation from the students’ point of view …What schools are performing for the students?”

He went on to note that over the past 15 years school funding has doubled while enrollment has dropped about 6 percent. At the same time, he said, using state Education Department statistics,  there are  9 percent more teachers and 30 percent more  supervisors.

This isn’t the first time that Cuomo has criticized school supervisors. But it makes one wonder if he’s planning a “school redesign team,” similar to what he did with Medicaid.

That would be difficult, as I’ve explored previously. Schools and the state’s Medicaid funded health care system are really two different animals, with Medicaid services being delivered through a dizzying array of programs, services and providers — it’s arguably tougher to get a handle on that K-12 schools which are set up on a standardized basis.

  1. Scotia Man says:

    This governor is so full of himself. And he lies more than I could ever conceive. Or he is just ignorant beyond all reason. It appears in this article that he is suggesting that teaching to the test and then using those test to fund schools is actually going to help students. Let’s ask the question about teaching to the test. Ask the people who have to deal with students who have had a “test” education. Those people are college admissions officers. They will tell you that the current freshmen classes are the most ill prepared students they have ever seen. Inability to write, inability to do higher math, inability to understand scientific reasoning. So testing and using testing to fund schools will do nothing but
    create more poorly prepared students for college and the workforce. Of course no one the governor knows will be affected. They are likely all in private schools who are not teaching to the test, but giving whole program teaching and teaching all aspects of math, English and science through enhanced music, art and after school programs. All of those things cost money. Money the governor would rather see in the pockets of his millionaire friends. I like my friends too, just not so much I will sacrifice them for the school children of New York.

  2. Unbelievable says:

    Go get em’ Andy. Fire them all!

  3. Buffalo Fred Murphy says:

    Just another media diversion by the new reactionary Republican Governor Andrew Cuomo, so he can focus attention away from the huge tax break he orchestrated for his friends on Wall Street, at the expense of school district budgets. That outrageous tax cut cost the state school districts $4.5 billion in aid.
    What a shock, now the governor wants to divert remaining state aid away from districts with the worst socio-economic profiles and give the funds to “better performing” districts.
    Translate please…..he wants to destroy teacher tenure, cut district aid levels and demand that poorer students who lack parental support, proper study habits, and even proper nutrition compete for state aid with elite suburban districts..what a great idea….for 1932!!
    Sounds like a radical republican to me….let them eat cake!! No jobs, no home, no food, no future….Andrew wants them to compete!! Economic survivial of fitest!!

  4. bgbytoys says:

    teachers claim that the class size is still to large. they are having trouble keeping kids up to date with their lessons in 20 or less classrooms. if the kid doesn’t understand the work it won’t matter if there are 15 kids in the class or 30.
    i can see where still the urban districts will get screwed over. perhaps it is time to come up with a new curriculum. not every child should continue to college. not all children should be main streamed. throw a couple of autistic kids in the class and see what you get.
    i believe there is great waste in our system. i do not support our current agenda but i understand their plight.

    not all teachers are capable of teaching.

  5. Scott says:

    He will probably keep coming up with more irrelevant statistics too. The numbers he keeps tossing around about how bad New York’s education system is, are based on the number of high school diplomas that people over age 25 have. When you consider that a large portion of our population has moved here from other states or countries (think great welfare), and they were not educated in New York, how does this get to be a valid statistic. When you actually compare our kids against other states on Nationally standardized tests, they come out pretty good

  6. Paul says:

    Rick, need to do a spell check and get stats in where necessary. Hard read…

  7. Celticpride says:

    Andrew: you have no chance at the national level. You are a New Yorker, who is divorced, supports gay marriage and has a live in girlfriend. Stop doing the bidding of the tea party. They’re never going to like you.
    Everyone who has interacted with people understands that kids from wealthy well educated families have advantages in education. We’re going to give more money to the teachers in the wealthiest districts because they have better test scores?
    And punish those “bad” teachers and schools that work with our neediest youth in rural and urban areas?
    That is a great idea, punish the poor for the crime of being poor. Sounds like a common theme of this governor’s policies.

  8. andrew says:

    Wait, so block grants are good enough for liberals to fund education, but not govt health care??? Hmmm suonds fishy!

  9. andrew says:

    Scott, as a state we spend about 40% more than PA, but have a 37% lower graduation rate… yeah they stack up pretty well.

  10. twopondsnorth says:

    Schools are not factories and their “output” should not be measured as if it were a commodity. So much of how well students do has nothing to do with school; even the best teacher cannot always counter homelessness, malnutrition of the absence of an adult to supervise homework. The best teachers are those who are able to motivate every student to do better, but not all students start out equal. It would be wonderful if every kid left for school in the morning with a full belly and a good night sleep, just to even the playing field. Tweaking the current system is a waste of time. Giving bonuses to the teachers with the brightest, best fed, economically secure won’t help those struggling at the bottom.

  11. Dave says:

    Amazing how all the other states can provide a decent public education far superior to NY at a fraction of the cost..

  12. optivity says:

    A little less “Sponge Bob” & a little more parental involvement is what Johnny/Jane needs most in order to excel at academics.

  13. jakester says:

    Where’s all the lotto money Andy???

  14. Chemom says:

    I applaud Gov Cuomo for making an attempt. There is so much waste in education in NYS from unfunded mandates right on down to too many school districts. There are over 700 public school districts in NYS, not including NYC. Lets have a look at school districts (not individual schools) with less than 1000 students…seems to me we don’t need 700 superintendents, 1400 (or more) asst superintendents, plus associate supers, on and on….
    BEFORE any teacher is made wholly responsible for a students success or failure, we need to cut from the TOP…supervisors, administrators, etc and make parents more responsible! (okay, kids too).
    Stop making a college education an entitlement. It should be for those who are ready, and that may not be for all.
    Focus on the student, now there’s a novel approach. Instead of a Regents diploma for all students, how about measuring an individual’s success (thinking of the learning disabled) rather than measuring the students success against an unrealistic pool of other students.

    Money doesn’t solve educations problems, NYS is a model of THAT!

  15. Walt says:

    The real problem in education lies in the state eductation department requirements. State mandated testing and the regents requirements makes the teachers teach to a test. There is too much testing, not enough learning.

  16. Upstate America says:

    I find it strange, that while the Governor is talking about education excellence, the education “professionals” are talking about money. Years and years of money have not equated to education excellence. Why should money equate to excellence now?
    Just once I would like to hear (or read) about education “professionals” talking (or writing)about education excellence.

  17. Dave says:

    No wonder NY is losing so much population and is losing two more House of Representative seats..Only one other state is so pathetic.. The cost of NY public education is obscene..and any responsible parent truly concerned about their kids knows they can do much much better in the other 49 the kids can work a job and own a house..unlike in NY where they will never have either..No future in being the highest taxed capital of the USA the Governor the lousy education the kids get in NY..

  18. Mary Smith says:

    Scotia Man: I agree 100% with your observation. “Testing to the test” is an awful way to prepare our students for their future. If we just teach them what is on the test…their goes teaching them how to reason and comprehend. Why is there so much remedial education going on at the college level? My philosophy is that the education system needs to get the parents involved in their childrens education. Schools can only do so much…parents need to get involved.

  19. A REAL HERO says:

    What a huge failure.

    This Governor doesn’t understand the first thing about what is happening in classrooms, even in the “best” performing schools.

    Right now kids are being “taught the test” and the pressure on schools to perform and on teachers to get the kids to get high scores is leading us to become a nation of idiots!

    This emphasis on awarding more money to higher achieving schools is misplaced and will continue this horrible practice of “teaching the test” instead of teaching our kids to think.

    Why is it that private schools, with extremely high student achievement and college attendance rate, do not rely on this “teach the test” and “test them till they drop” attitude.

    The Chinese are laughing at us as we step closer to the edge of an abyss.

    Another smoke-screen by our chess playing Governor. He knows he is surrounded by a bunch of checker players with no guts to take him on and challenge this worthless idea.

    Want real change in student performance: adopt single gender core class system, increase the school day or school year, take children in ghetto schools and put them in public boarding school to save their souls and their lives. These are all success-producing policies tried in other places where leaders do more than posture for the press!!

    Lets try some in New York. Does he think that the 80% of Albany High School 8th graders who can not read at grade level will benefit from his piecemeal attempt to increase teacher performance? Who is he kidding?

    Want positive outcomes: Then think outside the box and hire the people who actually think outside the box. But we wont hold our breath!!

    So shall it be written and so shall it be done!

  20. Dave says:


  21. mitch says:

    Right on, guv!

  22. G says:


    The problem with your posts is that they are always wrong. Always.

    However, I will use your numbers of the comparison between NY and PA. You say we pay 40% more than PA? If that’s factually true, apparently we are getting a pretty good deal per capita since PA’s population is only two-thirds that of NY. And there is less than a 2% difference in high school graduation numbers. And by the way, PA has 5% less than NY in the percentage of residents with bachelors degrees or higher.

  23. gilhags says:

    Dave, we just need to spend a little more. Don’t worry, there’s an endless supply of cash from all us homeowners.

  24. The Truth says:

    Folks let’s cut to the chase. The teachers union with their 18 million dollar building in Latham dosen’t care about the taxpayer or children they care about their union paying members period. The school boards have no power which has been taken away by our elected people in Albany for the unions money for their election campaigns. The state has now run out of money,the Feds are out of money and now the taxpayer middle class is out of money.
    So now we all have to change and not accept the silly union cries to tax the so called rich class warfare nonsence.
    The unions have to take the cuts and start giving back they are overpaid and under worked. The rest of us are working longer and harder now they have to join us and do the same. Medical we all have had to downgrade plans and pay more,retirement was cut now we all have 401′s ,we all work longer days. The union wants to say we earned all of that no they paid our political leaders off!!!!!!!! The world has changed we now have to compete with the rest of the world and we need to get lean clean and mean if we are going to once again raise our standing of living!!! Period just the facts like them or not it is the truth!

  25. Joe says:

    What role do parents play in their children’s education? If a teacher assigns homework to support and reinforce what was taught in school, who’s responsibility is it for the student to do the homework. Who’s responsibility is it to make sure the students are studying? It seems that it is the teacher’s responsibility. If the student doesn’t to their homework and doesn’t study, they will do poorly on standardized tests. Parents?
    These test scores will then be used to determine the teachers’ effectiveness and job worthiness.

    In simple terms, teachers will be fired for things that are out of their control.

    Does that sound fair?

    Parent’s need to be partners in their children’s education. If teachers and administrators are going to be held accountable for students’ performance, then parents should be held equally accountable.

    Let’s stop blaming teachers and administrators for students that fail.

    Why don’t we start talking about parents and their role in the education of our children?

  26. Joe says:

    Governor Cuomo,

    Too many supervisors? So, then, the U.S. Army should get rid of all the Colonels, Captains, Lieutenants, and Sergeants. They should have one General and a few hundred thousand privates. They’ll all do what they are supposed to do. Right?

    Let me know how that works out.

  27. Blue Man says:

    I am sure his kids aren’t going to public school. I am also pretty sure that he isn’t paying their private school tuition. Certainly not on his governor’s salary. Maybe I would have more confidence in his concern for public education if he showed some personal commitment to it.

  28. Jim says:

    Teachers cannot be responsible for social, economic, and community differences. Poor families have different priorities than wealthy families and they often have different expectations of their children. There are more factors involved in knowledge, skill and motivation in the classroom than teachingto the test.

  29. Joe says:

    Scotia Man said it first and said it best.

  30. Stateworker-4-Life says:

    Any discussion should begin with a proper, fair and accurate measure that compares student performance among States. As Scott previously pointed out, the measure that the Gov. quotes is not a valid performance indicator.

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