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North Country Assemblyman Butler wants more public hearings on teacher evaluation plans before June deadline

Posted 5/6/15

Assemblyman Marc Butler (R,C-Newport) says he is troubled by the invitation-only “public hearing” being dubbed as the Teacher Evaluation Summit scheduled for Thursday, May 7 in Albany. Butler, …

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North Country Assemblyman Butler wants more public hearings on teacher evaluation plans before June deadline

Posted

Assemblyman Marc Butler (R,C-Newport) says he is troubled by the invitation-only “public hearing” being dubbed as the Teacher Evaluation Summit scheduled for Thursday, May 7 in Albany.

Butler, whose 118th Assembly District includes St. Lawrence County towns from Norfolk and Madrid south to Colton, Clifton and Fine, said he is calling on the Board of Regents to schedule more public hearings on the topic before the June 20 deadline created by the governor’s budget.

“A lack of transparency and openness is plaguing our state education system,” Butler said. “We’ve seen it with the State Education Department with implementing Common Core standards and we’re seeing it again here with Teacher Evaluation,” said Butler in a press release. “The governor gave the Board of Regents a tough task with a tight deadline, and it is instinctual to do what is easy and expedient, but considering how important this matter is public input must be taken into consideration.”

Butler said testimony from 14 public hearings held statewide, including one in his district, helped Assembly Republicans develop the Achieving Pupil Preparedness and Launching Excellence (APPLE) Plan, which he said looks at the entire education system and provides solutions to Common Core, school funding, teacher training and curriculum development.

“Considering all the pressures put upon our educational system, it’s time to think holistically about fixing the entire system, not just patch working it with so-called educational reform like the ones the governor forced into the state budget,” Butler said.