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Cuomo vetoes bill meant to protect teachers with poor evaluations

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vetoed a measure he introduced to protect teachers with poor evaluations.

The bill would have given a temporary reprieve to teachers who are evaluated as “ineffective” or “developing” because of their student's low standardized test scores.

But in his veto message, Cuomo called the bill unnecessary. That's because recently released evaluations from the 2013-2014 school year rated less than 1 percent of teachers as ineffective. Cuomo said those results were "not an accurate assessment" and that he would propose changes to strengthen the statewide evaluation system next year.

New York's largest teachers union, New York State United Teachers, accused Cuomo of going back on an agreement he made in June. The agreement would have allowed teachers and principals rated ineffective or developing to have their evaluations recalculated to exclude the standardized tests for last school year and 2014-2015.

Student scores on standardized tests have plummeted in New York during the two years that they have been aligned with the Common Core, which has been criticized for the way it was rolled out.

In a written statement, NYSUT said “With this veto, the governor has decided that teachers are the only ones who should be held accountable for the state's failed implementation of the Common Core.”

The union says it plans a demonstration in Albany Wednesday in front of the governor’s mansion, timed to coincide with the governor’s annual New Year’s open house.