At NYCAN we believe teaching is an art and skill of the highest order. Its impact, when done well, is monumental.
Because teaching is difficult, it is also difficult to do well. We don’t believe it’s a problem that some people go into teaching and discover they are not good at it. We think it’s a problem, however, when we allow someone to continue teaching when that person does not have the gift for it.
The way we currently recruit, evaluate and reward teachers is all too similar, resulting in a bluntness that dulls the edge of student learning and teacher excellence. It’s because of this that, along with the Education Investment Tax Credit and a lifting of the charter cap, NYCAN supports Governor Cuomo’s teacher quality agenda.
But not everyone agrees that great teaching can do amazing things, like beat poverty or change the world for kids who need it the most. Those folks have been doing their best to “gum up” the path towards excellence and make sure that teacher evaluations passed by the legislature last session don’t work. Faced with positive change or more excuses, they’ve chosen the latter.
