The new state budget approved earlier this week is calling on state education officials to devise a new teacher evaluation system and the process is likely to receive some pushback from teacher unions.

State education officials have already felt the wrath of teachers, parents, local school officials and politicians following the four-year rollout of the new Common Core-based educational standards and the tests that come with them.

But now, thanks to the 2015-16 state budget deal, state education officials will have to come up with a teacher evaluation system by the end of June. And according to an article in the Albany Times Union, it will do so without any extra money and will start without a new permanent education commissioner in place.

The evaluations are tied to tests that are designed to show students’ progress over the course of a year under a given teacher. Educators who are rated “highly effective” will be eligible for $20,000 annual bonuses. At the other end of the spectrum, those rated “ineffective” for multiple years due to poor student test scores could be fired, even if they are tenured veterans.

Precisely how the Education Department will develop this new teacher grading system remains to be seen.

If the state education department is able to finalize a new evaluation system, local schools will be required to accept the changes by November.

The State Capitol, Albany NY.

ALBANY – New York State has a new budget in place.

State lawmakers rushed Tuesday night to meet the midnight deadline for passage of the $142 Billion state budget. The Senate wrapped up its work with a half-hour to spare, while Republicans in the Assembly pushed final passage of the last bills into the start of the new fiscal year — technically breaking a four-year record.

The day began with several large pieces of the $142 billion puzzle missing, including final language detailing the ethics fixes and educational reforms that Gov. Andrew Cuomo had insisted on seeing passed.

In the end, both of the hot-button measures ended up being folded into the Education, Labor & Family Assistance bill, which rolled out at midday just behind the long-delayed release of school aid “runs.” Cuomo had initially withheld the breakdowns as part of his attempt to condition added money on the adoption of reforms.

The late arrival of the bills — less than 12 hours before the deadline — raised the hackles of many lawmakers and required numerous “messages of necessity” from Cuomo to bypass the usual three-day aging process for legislation.

The final votes came after Cuomo linked his proposals to a $1.33 billion increase in base education aid with additional funds directed to the state’s most troubled schools.

The Democrat-dominated Assembly, which has been closely aligned with state teachers unions, voiced concern with Cuomo’s tactics but ended up agreeing to a budget that also requires new teachers to maintain good evaluations for four years before they can achieve tenure, up from the current three-year novice period.

Some unknowns remain: The state Board of Regents and the Education Department, which they oversee, have been tasked with developing a new evaluation system by the end of June.

The ethics reform largely hewed to what had been described previously by Cuomo administration officials, with a few captivating details — such as the fact that documents identifying certain legal clients of elected officials will need to be kept in a “locked box” by the state Office of Court Administration.

A new pay commission that will periodically set salary increases for lawmakers, statewide elected officials and top agency officials was revealed to be essentially an expansion of the current panel that sets salaries for judges. Its decisions, released every four years, will have the force of law unless overruled by the Legislature.

New York’s lawmakers, who earn a base salary of $79,500, haven’t had a pay raise in 15 years, although they remain among the top-paid legislators in the nation.

ALBANY – State leaders in Albany have agreed to a budget plan that includes much-debated reforms to the education system and ethics standards for lawmakers.

That’s according to a joint-statement from Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders, who say the tentative deal was struck late Sunday night.

Cuomo lauded new ethics measures which he describes as “putting in place the nation’s strongest and most comprehensive rules for disclosure of outside income by public officials.”

Other ethics reforms include changes to the per diem expense system, with lawmakers required to prove they are in Albany in order to claim expenses, creating the ability to revoke public pensions, stopping the personal use of campaign funds, and addressing transparency of independent expenditures.

Cuomo also promised to push ahead with controversial education reforms that have pitted him against powerful teachers’ unions.

Cuomo proposed a $142 billion plan in January that keeps spending growth below 2 percent and promises money for big-ticket infrastructure projects while cutting property taxes.

The deal, which comes ahead of the budget deadline of April 1, would mark the fifth consecutive on-time budget in a state previously known for fiscal dysfunction.

Full details of the budget, including state aid runs for individual school districts across the state –will be released Monday.

The event is being coordinated by both the Jamestown Teachers Association and the southwestern Teachers Association and will focus on challenges local districts are facing, primarily due to increased mandates from the state without a corresponding increase in aid. Several individuals are slated to speak, including Jamestown School Superintendent Tim Mains.

Teachers and residents from schools across the state have been organizing rallies to show solidarity and voice concern over a series of education reforms being proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, which include stricter guidelines for teacher evaluations.

A recent Quinnipiac poll shows a large portion of New Yorkers are not supportive of Cuomo’s plans for education reform—and it’s dragged down his approval rating to a new low of 50 percent.

Tonight’s forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Southwestern High School auditorium and is open to the public.