Governor Hochul signs bill changing teacher evaluation system

ROCHERSTER N.Y. (WROC) — A bill was signed by New York state Governor Kathy Hochul that reforms the Annual Professional Performance Review system. According to NYSUIT the current system relies on student performance measures on grades 3-8 English language arts, math assessments and an overall general rubric to rate educators.

Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teacher’s association says the new system will be a better way to evaluate teachers.

“One which would be instructive and to the teachers. Help them develop, and it wouldn’t have to be a one size fits all system,” said Urbanski.

He says this in turn allows the system to be controlled locally rather than by the state government.

“If a state mandates a single system, they know nothing about our district, they know nothing about our teachers and most importantly they know nothing about our students so when we negotiate it locally when can make it rigorous, but we can also make it respectful and geared towards improvement of teaching and teachers,” he said.

Urbanski says this will benefit our local education system.

“In the city of Rochester and public schools we would be able to return to something that would be more akin to what we had before this law was passed 15 years ago where you could involve not only your supervisor in the evaluation of teachers but also knowledgeable fellow teachers, outstanding practitioners. Because right now most evaluations are done by people who are no longer in the classroom and the best way to evaluate a practitioner is by fellow practitioners,” he said.

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