Support Our Educators
Protect Your Child's Education!
Please read the letter below from the Educators of the Great Neck Public Schools. The GNSHS PTSA supports this letter and encourages you to be informed and sign the petition:
Dear Families,
Every day, you trust us with your most precious gifts - your children. As educators, it is our life’s purpose to develop their intellects, cultivate their interests, and nurture their dreams. Along with you, we celebrate their growth and accomplishments and watch with pride as they progress. Unfortunately, we are now convinced that the nurturing, challenging environment we have created together is at risk.
Although Governor Cuomo has never visited our schools, he has proposed a "one size fits all" plan for public education that could radically alter the Great Neck Public Schools. Among his proposals are major changes to teacher evaluations in New York State:
● 50% of a teacher's rating would be based on state test scores. (Currently it is 20%).
● 35% of a teacher's rating would be based on the findings of an outside contractor who will observe the classroom only once. (Currently our building supervisors' observations count for 60%).
● 15% of a teacher's rating would be based on observations by the principal or assistant principals. The very people who know our work and our children best would have the least input into our evaluation.
● 50% + 35%= 85% of our evaluations could be removed from the hands of our community and placed in the hands of the state. Any teacher rated ineffective for two years in a row could be fired, and our district would have no say in this.
Here’s the problem: even though most of our students do well on state tests, the teachers’ ratings are not based on raw scores; instead, what is “measured” is students’ improvement from one year to the next. If a student with a 3 gets the same number of questions correct that s/he did the year before, s/he has not shown sufficient growth (even though s/he has mastered the curriculum), and the teacher’s rating goes down. Rather than celebrate the child’s success in learning new concepts, the state penalizes the teacher.
If the Governor gets his way, the rich curriculum that we have created, you expect, and your children deserve could be reduced to the lowest common denominators: more test-prep, more pressure, and more anxiety. There would be less time for science, social studies, the arts and other classes that engage and enrich your children. Above all, there would be less time for individual attention and differentiation.
Together, Great Neck families and educators have always valued intellectual curiosity, creativity, and a love of learning. We fear the Governor's proposals could put these values at risk. We need your help and we need it now. These proposals are embedded in the state budget which will be voted upon before April 1.
Here's what you can do:
Sign this petition, which will be going to Governor Cuomo, Senator Jack Martins, and the other Long Island Senators involved in these negotiations:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/governor-cuomo-respect?source=c.em.cp&r_by=12625268
Please post and share this link on Facebook and other social media.
We have an amazing school district that we must not take for granted. All that we do together is far too important to be taken away. Thank you for sharing your children with us!
Sincerely,
The Educators of the Great Neck Public Schools
Dear Families,
Every day, you trust us with your most precious gifts - your children. As educators, it is our life’s purpose to develop their intellects, cultivate their interests, and nurture their dreams. Along with you, we celebrate their growth and accomplishments and watch with pride as they progress. Unfortunately, we are now convinced that the nurturing, challenging environment we have created together is at risk.
Although Governor Cuomo has never visited our schools, he has proposed a "one size fits all" plan for public education that could radically alter the Great Neck Public Schools. Among his proposals are major changes to teacher evaluations in New York State:
● 50% of a teacher's rating would be based on state test scores. (Currently it is 20%).
● 35% of a teacher's rating would be based on the findings of an outside contractor who will observe the classroom only once. (Currently our building supervisors' observations count for 60%).
● 15% of a teacher's rating would be based on observations by the principal or assistant principals. The very people who know our work and our children best would have the least input into our evaluation.
● 50% + 35%= 85% of our evaluations could be removed from the hands of our community and placed in the hands of the state. Any teacher rated ineffective for two years in a row could be fired, and our district would have no say in this.
Here’s the problem: even though most of our students do well on state tests, the teachers’ ratings are not based on raw scores; instead, what is “measured” is students’ improvement from one year to the next. If a student with a 3 gets the same number of questions correct that s/he did the year before, s/he has not shown sufficient growth (even though s/he has mastered the curriculum), and the teacher’s rating goes down. Rather than celebrate the child’s success in learning new concepts, the state penalizes the teacher.
If the Governor gets his way, the rich curriculum that we have created, you expect, and your children deserve could be reduced to the lowest common denominators: more test-prep, more pressure, and more anxiety. There would be less time for science, social studies, the arts and other classes that engage and enrich your children. Above all, there would be less time for individual attention and differentiation.
Together, Great Neck families and educators have always valued intellectual curiosity, creativity, and a love of learning. We fear the Governor's proposals could put these values at risk. We need your help and we need it now. These proposals are embedded in the state budget which will be voted upon before April 1.
Here's what you can do:
Sign this petition, which will be going to Governor Cuomo, Senator Jack Martins, and the other Long Island Senators involved in these negotiations:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/governor-cuomo-respect?source=c.em.cp&r_by=12625268
Please post and share this link on Facebook and other social media.
We have an amazing school district that we must not take for granted. All that we do together is far too important to be taken away. Thank you for sharing your children with us!
Sincerely,
The Educators of the Great Neck Public Schools
