The city teachers union is spending $1.4 million on TV ads to thank Gov. Cuomo for retreating from plans to use student Common Core test results to evaluate teachers.
The seven-figure political bouquet is a startling turnabout by the United Federation of Teachers, which ran ads last year attacking the governor for proposing tougher evaluations of its members.
“Parents and teachers knew the Common Core rollout was a disaster, and now Gov. Cuomo’s Task Force is doing what’s right,” the narrator in the 30-second spot says.
“State test scores won’t unfairly count against students and test scores won’t be used in teacher evaluations.”
The ad hails “less testing” and a “greater focus on learning” and offers a pledge of “working together” with Cuomo to improve education for all students.
It’s running in the New York metro region through Jan. 24 on local broadcast and cable TV.
In a bid to boost accountability, Cuomo last year rammed through a law mandating that student results on state exams weigh more heavily in the evaluations of teachers.
But weeks later, parents — aided by union opposition — revolted and led 200,000 kids around the state to boycott the rigorous math and English exams.
One in five students in grades 3 to 8 opted out.
The teachers union ran ads last February and April accusing Cuomo of “blaming” instead of “supporting” teachers by pushing the stricter evaluations, as well as a plan to steer more tax dollars to private and parochial students.
Cuomo’s public support for his handling of education plummeted amid the controversy, according to polls.
Citing the backlash and lack of confidence in the use of the Common Core standards, Cuomo appointed a task force in September to come up with recommendations to fix the problem.
The governor accepted its recommendation to impose a moratorium on using the tests through the 2018-19 school year.