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Letter: Eastchester Public Schools And The Education Bill

EASTCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Eastchester Daily Voice accepts signed letters to the editor. Please send letters to eastchester@dailyvoice.com.

The Superintendent of Eastchester Schools is asking parents to sign a petition to suspend the education reform act.

The Superintendent of Eastchester Schools is asking parents to sign a petition to suspend the education reform act.

Photo Credit: File

Dear Eastchester Parents and Guardians,

You have undoubtedly heard a lot in recent months about testing and teacher evaluations. While both are essential to ensuring a proper education, it is my belief that the New York State Department of Education is setting regulations in place that will not have the desired outcome.

I recently attended a meeting with 40 other regional superintendents with the goal of calling on the governor and legislature to amend the educational regulations that were hastily attached to the annual budget bill in an eleventh hour press to pass the budget on time.

Without changes to the legislation as written, our students will be impacted in these ways:

1. The current culture of high stakes testing will become permanent.

2. Good teachers who are successful in our District, or have the potential to be successful, will be fired despite our principals’ and my opinions of their work. Under the proposed rules, Albany will decide who is fired based on a statewide formula applied to student test results.

3. Local control and authority over our schools' management will continue to be taken away. Eastchester is a high performing district and I do not believe management by the state will lead to improved performance.

4. Loss of local school control means that Districts like ours will be "drawn toward the average." While the homogenization of schools throughout the state may help the lowest performing schools, it will make it very difficult to maintain the high performance that many suburban homeowners chose when they bought property in our communities.

A petition drawn up by superintendents in our area calls for suspension and amendment of the New York State Education Transformation Act of 2015.

As of yesterday, more than 12,000 individuals have electronically signed the petition. Most are from Long Island and Westchester. I hope you will take a moment to check out the link and consider adding your name.

The petition can be found at: http://bit.ly/GetItRightNY Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Dr. Walter R. Moran III

Superintendent

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