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Local education advocates concerned with Cuomo's 'Reimagine education' comments

The state will be working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a blueprint to reimagine New York's education system, according to Cuomo.

NEW YORK — As school buildings across New York remain closed for the rest of the academic year, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to 'reimagine' the state's education system with a stronger emphasis on technology and virtual learning. 

The state will be working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a blueprint on this, according to Cuomo. 

Cuomo said in a daily briefing on Tuesday, "The old model of everybody goes and sits in a classroom and the teacher is in front of that classroom and teaches that class and you do that all across the city, all across the state, all these buildings, all these physical classrooms -- why with all the technology you have?"

His comments caught some local education leaders off guard. 

Anthony Day, the Sweet Home Central School District Superintendent of Schools told 2 On Your Side, "I've been generally impressed with the governor's leadership during the COVID crisis but I was taken aback by a statement and a claim about what appears to be a reform agenda being thrust upon New Yorkers in the midst of the crisis." 

Day added, "Parents and kids and teachers and principals have all done remarkable work in the short bit of time that they've had trying to get up to speed with remote learning, but I'm not sure we're quite ready to 'reimagine education' while we first start to figure out how to get kids back at all in September."

Phil Rumore, the Buffalo Teachers Federation President agreed. He said, "My initial reaction is that he doesn't have a clue as to what's really important in education. The interaction between a teacher and student and students with other students is more important almost than some of the things that they learn." Rumore added, "I find it insulting."

Chris Cerrone, the co-founder of New York State Allies for Public Education, said he's concerned with the Gates Foundation's involvement. He explained, "Unfortunately Governor Cuomo and the Gates Foundation historically have not listened to the voices of actual educators." 

Cerrone said, "Why are we listening to people who have already failed in education when we need to be moving forward with reforms that are more based on student collaboration, real-world learning, hands-on learning. Not based on test scores and being focused primarily on those types of things." 

While their ideas vary, the education advocates we spoke to believe there could be things to take away from the distance learning experience moving forward -- but educators should have a seat at the table.

"We should be looking at issues such as, are state tests really necessary? They haven't occurred this year. They won't occur this year. Is homework something that's necessary when we see a big divide between students who have support at home and students in more vulnerable situations," said Cerrone. 

Day told 2 on Your Side, "I think there's opportunities for educators to take a look at what's possible now that we have greater comfort and recognize the potential power of connectivity and technology but at the same time we need to be thoughtful and include all those people that have done such a great job the last six weeks in that conversation rather than having ideas thrust upon us."

New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta released the following statement Tuesday regarding the governor’s comments about reimagining education in New York:

“NYSUT believes in the education of the whole child. Remote learning, in any form, will never replace the important personal connection between teachers and their students that is built in the classroom and is a critical part of the teaching and learning process — which is why we’ve seen educators work so hard during this pandemic to maintain those connections through video chats, phone calls, and socially distant in-person meetings. If we want to reimagine education, let’s start with addressing the need for social workers, mental health counselors, school nurses, enriching arts courses, advanced courses, and smaller class sizes in school districts across the state. Let’s secure the federal funding and new state revenues through taxes on the ultrawealthy that can go toward addressing these needs. And let’s recognize educators as the experts they are by including them in these discussions about improving our public education system for every student.”

New York State Allies for Public Education, Class Size Matters and Parent Coalition for Student Privacy sent a joint letter to the Governor addressing these concerns. 

The letter reads in part: 

"Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation have promoted one failed educational initiative after another, causing huge disaffection in districts throughout the state.   

Whether that be the high-handed push by the Gates Foundation for the invalid Common Core standards, unreliable teacher evaluation linked to test scores, or privacy-violating data-collection via the corporation known as inBloom Inc., the education of our children has been repeatedly put at risk by their non-evidence based “solutions”, which were implemented without parent input and despite significant public opposition.  As you recall, these policies also sparked a huge opt-out movement across the state, with more than twenty percent of eligible students refusing to take the state exams."

We did reach out to the Gates Foundation for comment on this story and have not yet heard back. 

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