Regents Chancellor Tisch Will Not Seek Another Term

Posted: 
Sunday, November 1, 2015

New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Meryl Tisch announced last week that she will not be seeking another term. Many education experts believe Tisch's decision has the chance to open the door to a new direction in state education policy.

During her tenure as Chancellor, Tisch has been widely criticized for ignoring the voices of parents and teachers and advocating for education policies which value standardized testing and data-driven teacher evaluations over sound education practices.
 
NYSUT President Karen E. Magee said, "With this announcement, New York State can move past an era that put far too much emphasis on standardized testing and, too often, dismissed the concerns of parents and educators. This mistaken direction in state education policy led to a serious erosion of trust and confidence. Chancellor Tisch recently acknowledged that, indeed, the state had gone too far, too fast in the use of standardized tests, especially in teacher evaluations. We now see movement to roll back some of those excesses. Those steps toward sanity in state education policy are most welcome and we look forward to working with Chancellor Tisch over the next five months to make the necessary fixes."
 
NYSUT Vice President Catalina Fortino said today's announcement by Chancellor Tisch is an opportunity for the Regents and State Education Department to pursue a new policy direction.
"The pendulum on standardized testing is swinging back. Policymakers have clearly heard from parents and educators that more teaching and less testing is needed," Fortino said. "We look forward to working with the chancellor in her efforts to 'calm the waters' over the next five months and to implement a better, fairer system.
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