Phillips to Cuomo: Put down your sword, end the rhetoric

Editor's Note: Watkins Glen School Superintendent Tom Phillips has a message for Governor Andrew Cuomo that he delivered to the media in letter form on Feb. 26, 2015. That letter follows:

As an Educator I take seriously my responsibility to shape the future for the children I serve. There is no political motivation, no grandstanding, and no desire for recognition other than to realize I have made a difference in the lives of children. I wish I could say the same for the Governor of the State of New York!

This is not about pointing fingers. There is enough blame to go around. Is the public school system in need of serious systemic reform? Absolutely, there can be no debate about that. If Governor Cuomo is serious about systemic reform then where is his proposal in regards to the School funding formula, unfunded State mandates, seat time requirements, segmented curriculum and courses of study, Taylor Law, collective bargaining, Teacher/ Administrator Certification, Wicks Law reform and the list goes on. Leaders who are serious about reforming a system or organization must have the courage to tackle the “big” issues, to reach out to others in the spirit of collaboration and find solutions.

Let’s remember that the current public education system is and was founded amid a compilation of laws dating back to the early 1900s. The current design of the school calendar is still based on an agrarian model. Children were needed at home to plant the fields and harvest the crops, hence a 10-month school year with summer vacation. A little outdated, to say the least! Educators were mostly women because they were seen as the caretakers so they were responsible for “educating” the children at little or no pay. The organization of the system was one-room schoolhouses in which communities took on the responsibility of educating their children. The 1950s changed all that in New York State. The move to centralization of schools became the focus of needed reform. Our elected officials took seriously their responsibility to educate all of our children across the state. Teaching became a “profession” (small “p”) and while salary was insufficient, educators were provided benefits including a pension.

Fast forward to today. The system of public education has been hijacked by special interests, whether it is billionaires on Wall Street, charter school advocates, labor unions, politicians or any other subgroup of importance. Politicians and bureaucrats have created a school funding formula that is so complicated it is impossible to equitably support school districts. The unfunded and underfunded mandate boondoggle created by the Legislature leaves discretionary budget control at the local school board level to less than 15% of a total school budget. Teacher preparation has been diminished to a system of certification and testing that has little bearing on actual classroom effectiveness and ability to teach. The evaluation system for schools and teachers has been reduced to as little as two 90-minute test sessions for children, one for English Language Arts and the other for Mathematics.

Governor Cuomo, if you really care about public education, then have the courage to address equitable school funding, unfunded and underfunded State mandates, inadequate teacher preparation programs, the influence of ALL special interest groups on the current system, school accountability that has meaning, and data that is more than a 90-minute snapshot of our children’s ability. Recognize that teaching is a profession and treat educators as such. As a leader you were charged with moving New York into the 21st Century. Put down your sword, stop the rhetoric and lead the much-needed reform of public education by extending your hand to educators, politicians, parents and children to come together and problem-solve. We stand ready to assist with the transformation of the public education system that will ensure our children are truly college- and career-ready.

I still have hope that you will see through your misplaced anger and rely on that saying: “Everything I ever needed to know I learned in Kindergarten.”

Thomas J. Phillips
Superintendent of Schools
Watkins Glen

Photo in text: Thomas J. Phillips (File photo)