Earlier this year, State Education Commissioner John King made the unprecedented decision to move two of Buffalo’s most troubled schools under the supervision of Johns Hopkins University and Erie 1 BOCES. The arrangement, which weakens the control of superintendents and school boards, is referred to as an educational partnership organization or EPO. He also had […]
Commissioner John King
Posted inNews & Opinion
Commissioner King gets an earful on education
The Affordable Care Act’s disastrous rollout may not be the Democrats’ only problem in the 2014 elections. Dissatisfaction with the Obama administration’s education reforms is growing, and anger is building at the local level. State Education Commissioner John King, during a public forum held in Brighton last week, heard dozens of parents, teachers, and students […]
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King is optimistic about Common Core
While there may be some adjustments made to the Common Core curriculum and the Annual Professional Performance Review for public school teachers and principals, State Education Commissioner John King said that he has no plans to slow down or delay the implementation of either. Common Core has introduced higher standards for students in 45 states […]
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Preliminary teacher evaluations released
State Education officials have released preliminary statewide ratings for teachers and principals under the new Annual Professional Performance Review. The composite results show that 91.5 percent of teachers earned ratings of “highly effective” or “effective,” while 4.4 percent are “developing,” and 1 percent are “ineffective.” The data also show that 89.9 percent of principals are […]
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Commissioner King cancels Common Core forums
Sometimes reality can overwhelm rhetoric, and that appears to be the case with a recent set of statewide public forums planned by State Education Commissioner John King. King intended to use the forums to provide more information about the rigorous new Common Core curriculum. But after a disastrous first meeting (see YouTube video below), King […]
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Protesters reject Commissioner King’s reforms
About 60 people carrying signs with slogans like “Keep Politics Away From Our Kids” and “Life Is Not a Test” protested outside School of the Arts yesterday.
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Albany is going to fix urban schools
First it was mayoral control; now we may be looking at Albany control of some urban school districts. The very idea is almost laughable. We’re talking about Albany, New York, frequently described as the most dysfunctional state government in the country. But New York Education Commissioner John King is pushing for a bill that would […]
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Commissioner King comes down on Buffalo schools
Nearly a year ago, Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas ended his comments in a public meeting with an ominous statement. “We’re running out of time,” he said, referring to the need to improve student performance. In an interview earlier today, Vargas said that all the community has to do is look west at the Buffalo […]
