By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a bold step in opposition to the mayor late Tuesday when he announced his own version of legislation to overhaul the state's seniority-based teacher firing rules, just as the State Senate voted in favor of a controversial plan endorsed by the mayor to end the existing "last in, first out," policy.
The senate voted 33-to-27 Tuesday evening in favor of a bill that would give the city the power to base teacher firings on factors other than seniority, including excessive absenteeism and poor student test scores. But the bill was essentially dead on arrival, as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver reportedly said that the Assembly has no intention of taking up the bill.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has argued that the senate's legislation — which has been rejected by the teachers' union — is crucial as the city moves forward with plans to lay off 4,666 teachers this year. Bloomberg says that continuing the so-called "last in, first out" policy would result in disaster, especially in lower-income schools, where teachers tend to be younger and have logged fewer classroom hours.
To underscore the urgency, city's Department of Education released a list Sunday night outlining the potential impact of the cuts school-by-school if the policy is not repealed, with some schools losing as much as 70 percent of their teaching staff.
The teachers' union has warned that the bill would allow the city to fire at will and would strip some of their bargaining powers.
On the heels of the senate's vote, the governor announced that he plans to submit his own bill that would expedite plans that are already in the works to develop a statewide, "objective teacher evaluation system" based on both performance and seniority.
Under the governor's proposal, the new rules, which were passed as part of the "Race to the Top" legislation, would come into effect in time for the 2011-2012 school year.
The new evaluation system would give teachers ratings of "highly effective," "effective," "developing," or "ineffective." Teachers and principals with poor records could be charged with incompetence through "an expedited hearing process," the governor's office said.
"We need to put students first by keeping the best educators in the classroom, whether they have worked for one year or 25 years," Cuomo said in a statement. "While seniority should be part of the equation, it cannot be the only factor when making important employment decisions in our schools."
While full details have not yet been released, the plan more closely resembles the approach that Speaker Silver has endorsed.
"The Speaker has consistently stated his support for an objective teacher evaluation senate," a spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said.
United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, who has been rallying against the senate bill, also came out enthusiastically in favor of Cuomo's plan.
"While the State Senate unfortunately bowed to pressure from Mayor Bloomberg today," he said that Cuomo put out a proposal that "appears to be far superior to the mayor's cynical politicization of the issue."
Bloomberg, meanwhile, declined to comment on the governor's proposal, saying at a press conference in Midtown Tuesday evening that he had not yet read the details.
Instead, he praised the senate for what he called a "landmark proposal that puts the needs of our children first," and urged the governor to include the reform in his budget proposal Thursday.
"I think the bottom line is, we need legislation that allows us to lay off teachers this year using merit," the mayor said. "Anything else just doesn't help us now."
He said that the city needs to begin sending pink slips to teachers "in the next couple of months."
It was unclear immediately how the senate would respond to Cuomo's bill.
Senate Education Committee Chair John Flanagan, who introduced the senate's version of the legislation, argued that the current system is fundamentally flawed.
"This is a very important step forward, not only for education in the city of New York, but for education in the State of New York,” he said before the vote.
But opponents to the bill argued that the city should be working more closely with the teachers' union and echoed Mulgrew's concerns that revoking the policy would diminish teacher protections.
"I cannot see going from one flawed process to another flawed process," State Sen. Joseph Addabbo said.
Brooklyn State Sen. Kevin S. Parker, who also voted against the bill, argued that the "Race to the Top" evaluation plan was a sufficient solution.
"Why we're going back and redoing something we've already done to me is questionable," he said.
