Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, co-sponsored legislation introduced in the Assembly that modifies education reforms enacted in the 2015-16 state budget.

“It is important that education is appropriate for our children,” Russell said. “In the last budget the Assembly fought to include autonomy on behalf of the Board of Regents to ensure education reform is handled by education professionals. The Board of Regents needs ample time to proceed so they can get this right. This legislation would also provide school districts more support and time to adapt to any changes presented by the Regents.”

The legislation introduced includes measures that would:

• Delink the increase in state aid to implementation of a new annual teacher and principal evaluation system

• Extend the deadline for the Regents to adopt regulations from June 30 to Nov. 17

• Extend by one year the deadline for districts to fully implement the new evaluation requirements (November 15, 2016), or by September 1 of each subsequent year;

• Require state-provided growth models (for grades 4-8 English language arts (ELA) and math teachers) to take into consideration certain student characteristics such as students with disabilities, English language learners, poverty status, etc.;

• Amend the new teacher evaluation law to modify the definition of “state-designed supplemental assessment” to include “other locally selected measures of student achievement” which must be approved by SED; and modify the teacher observation category to allow, instead of require, districts to use the independent trained evaluator subcomponent as part of a voluntary demonstration project that may be established by the department.

• Require creation of content review committee to ensure that grades 3-8 ELA and math tests are grade-level appropriate;

• Provide $8.4 million to print more test forms for grades 3-8 ELA and math assessments, eliminate stand-alone multiple choice field tests and release a significant amount of tests questions and answers by June 1 of each year; and

• Require the commissioner to review Common Core education standards and make recommendations for potential modifications.

“It is crucial that we have an effective and sound, research-based teacher evaluation system along with the time needed to implement it practically,” Russell said. “The legislation I co-sponsored ensures schools will have ample time to develop a fair and comprehensive teacher evaluation system without fear of losing vital state aid.”