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Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D/WFP – 125th) offered her strong support for the Board of Regents' directive to the state education department to push back the deadline for school districts to fully implement new teacher evaluations to Sept. 2016 instead of Nov. 15 of this year – ensuring that schools won't have to worry about having their state funding put in jeopardy this year. Lifton noted that making sure local schools have the funding they need to continue providing a quality education to students has been and remains a top priority, and school children shouldn't have to suffer any consequences resulting from a deadline being missed.

"This is exactly why the Assembly Majority fought so hard during budget negotiations to put the teacher evaluation system into the hands of the Board of Regents," said Lifton. "We made sure the budget language was crafted to give the Board of Regents significant flexibility in coming up with a new teacher evaluation system. The Assembly Majority also made sure that dedicated education experts who actually understand what goes on in the classroom were elected to the Board of Regents. We're seeing the results of those wise decisions today."

The Board of Regents will work to find a way to administratively extend the deadline for school districts to approve new teacher evaluation systems to Sept. 1, 2016. Lifton noted that the Regents have that authority and she supported the decision to push the deadline back.

Under the original plan in the budget, the June 30, 2015 deadline would remain for the Regents to adopt regulations to decide issues such as how much weight to give state-based tests under the new evaluation system, but that giving districts more time to implement the new system would help them to design fair, effective teacher evaluations.

"The Legislature elects a Board of Regents for a reason: to ensure that qualified education experts are directing the education system in our state – not politics," Lifton said. "Extending the deadline will relieve some of the unnecessary pressure to rush through new teacher evaluations. The Assembly Majority continues to stand with teachers to fight any unfair attacks against them, and will keep working to make our schools the best they can be so our children can succeed."

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