Teachers push for bill to change standardized testing evaluations

About a dozen educators lined up in front of Senator Chris Jacobs downtown Buffalo office Friday Afternoon.  Their goal wasn't to protest the republican state senator, but rather support him. 

Jacobs co-sponsored a bill that would eliminate teachers being evaluated by standardized test results.

“We need the bill brought across the end zone. We need to get this done for the teachers, kids and the parents,” said Peter Stuhlmiller of NYSUT.

The bill almost unanimously passed the assembly and is thought to have enough support to pass the senate.

“I think we have a good amount of support in the senate. It passed out of the education committee, this week. So, it’s my hope that it will come on the floor the next week or two,” said Senator Chris Jacobs.

The educators outside of Senator Jacobs office think politics should be put aside to pass a bill that has support on both sides of the aisle.

“If we can get this fixed, then we have a much better system to evaluate teachers. Without the testing, administrators still have over 22 criteria that they use to evaluate teachers on an annual basis. So, there are plenty of opportunities to keep teachers held accountable. We want to get this right,” added Stuhlmiller.

Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, says a few concerns are why the bill is being held from the floor. One of them, fears the bill, might actually lead to more testing.