STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With the clock ticking down the final hours of the legislative session, Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a last-minute appeal to Albany lawmakers Thursday to delay teacher evaluations linked to the new Common Core curriculum standards, to give school districts more time to roll out the new standards.
The governor is asking legislators to vote on a bill that would delay teacher evaluations based on the Common Core standards until the 2015-2016 school year.
Cuomo said his office had received feedback from school districts, whose teachers complained they were not given enough time and preparation to teach the new curriculum. Teachers worried they would be unfairly rated if their students performed poorly on standardized tests based on the Common Core.
The state Education Department is supporting a delay in evaluations.
State Education Commissioner John B. King said a delay would help relieve concerns.
"The short-term safety net around evaluation consequences proposed by the governor and legislative leadership should relieve anxiety while preserving a multiple measures evaluation system that includes student performance," King said in a statement.
The city's Department of Education followed suit, taking standardized test scores off the table as the sole means of evaluating students for summer school and promotion.
Lawmakers are expected to take up Cuomo's proposal late in the day Thursday before adjourning for the summer.