Tisch announces plan to step down in March |
On Board Online • November 16, 2015
Saying she wants to quell speculation that political considerations will color her work in the coming months, Merryl H. Tisch has given early notice that she will not seek another term as chancellor and will step down from the Board of Regents when her current appointment concludes at the end of March.
“I plan to continue to be an independent – and I know all of you know – outspoken voice,” Tisch, 60, told her fellow board members as they began two days of October meetings.
Tisch, who was named to the board in 1996 and has been chancellor since 2009, pledged to spend the rest of her time in office seeking to “calm the waters” and “create meaningful consensus” in support of higher standards, related curriculum and assessments, professional development, accountability and evaluation.
“I will give you the best that I can, giving you my best judgment and my best advice,” she told the Regents. “Stepping out of the politics of this debate, I believe, will only help and strengthen our work.”
Later at a brief news conference, she told reporters uncertainty about her plans was turning into “a distraction” from the board’s work. “There is a lot of speculation about the political overlay in all of this, whatever that might be,” she said.
A public backlash against state tests and swift curriculum changes tied to the Common Core standards and opposition from New York State United Teachers to using state test results as part of a new educator evaluation system were seen as factors in the Legislature’s decision this year to replace two longtime Regents, Robert Bennett of Western New York and James Dawson of the North Country.
“I’m not leaving because I wanted to leave,” Dawson said bluntly at his last meeting in March. “I’m leaving because of New York state politics.”
Most reaction from lawmakers and educational leaders included praise for Tisch’s efforts on behalf of public education.
“During her tenure as chancellor, she sought to improve lower performing schools, close the achievement gap and improve accountability,” said NYSSBA Executive Director Timothy G. Kremer. “Through it all, she demonstrated a resiliency and unyielding belief in high standards for all of our students.”
Even Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been critical of the Regents’ work under Tisch’s leadership, called her “an extraordinary citizen” in remarks to reporters at a New York City event reported by Politico New York. “We have a lot of changes to make in education, and Merryl Tisch we owe a very big debt of gratitude,” he said.
NYSUT President Karen E. Magee, however, said Tisch’s decision to step down “opens the door to a new direction in state education policy – one that more fully respects the voices of parents and teachers and values teaching and learning ahead of standardized testing and data-driven teacher evaluations.”
In remarks to the Regents, Tisch said making changes in policy is part of the process of implementing change. “We will continue to adjust, and we should. What we can’t do is take this moment to back away from the need for higher standards.”
She pointed to steps taken by the Regents to reduce student testing, change the state’s test vendor, provide hardship waivers for school districts unable to meet a tight deadline for the latest version of Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) evaluations, and offer an appeals process for teachers to challenge the growth scores used to calculate their APPR ratings.
Yet, Tisch also reiterated her commitment to a strong teacher evaluation system, even as changes are made.
She described the state’s previous system as one in which “almost everyone” received a satisfactory rating and said it was improperly tolerated “for generations” as best practice. She urged resistance to any temptation to go back to it.
“It’s not good for teachers. It’s not good for principals. It’s not good for students, and it’s not good for communities,” she said.
The composition and dynamics of the Regents board and administration at the State Education Department have shifted in the last year, with five of the 17 members new since spring 2014. Tisch said the current board has managed to work together to do “complicated things,” in spite of differences of opinion.
No obvious front-running candidate to succeed Tisch as chancellor immediately emerged.
While a desire to quiet political chatter during the last months of her leadership sparked the timing of her announcement, Tisch said, the decision to leave the chancellor’s post after two terms was inspired by study of her predecessors.
“There were some very cold days during which I would look at that list, and I would go ‘Hmm. How’d they make it for two terms?’” she told reporters.
“However, I think this board is driven by tradition,” she said. “Tradition is important. You learn from previous models – you get to improve on them, but you learn. Two terms as chancellor is just about right.”