High Achievement NY

February 4, 2016 New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and New York Board of Regents New York State Education Department 89 Washington Ave. Albany, New York 12234 Dear Commissioner and Board of Regents: We are writing today to urge the Board of Regents to maintain its two decade long rule of electing its Chancellor and Vice Chancellor at the March Regents meeting. High Achievement New York is a coalition of 28 teacher, civic, parent and business groups throughout the State, united to advance and protect higher learning standards and aligned assessments. With the retirement of Chancellor Tisch and Vice Chancellor Bottar from the Board, a special interest group is demanding the system be gamed in the internal process to choose their replacements, by moving the vote to the following month when each will no longer be on the board. In addition, this group is calling for specific members of the Board to be named Chancellor and Vice Chancellor. This is inappropriate for a number of reasons: 1) The Board’s rules, adopted by vote in 1995, clearly state that “election for the offices of Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the Board of Regents shall be conducted during the regular meeting of the Board in March…” Any change to when the vote takes place, therefore, would need to be preceded by a Board vote to change the rules themselves. Those long standing rules shouldn’t be changed in the middle of a process. 2) The Board should be able to choose its own leadership without outside interference, a point that State Teachers Union President Magee made when she stated “we believe the internal discussions and elections [of the Board’s leadership]…that’s their business. We stay out of that business”. 3) Since the Board of Regents was established by statute in 1784, it has provided oversight over education in New York at arm’s length from the day to day political process. Some, including members of the outside group calling for this rules change, have argued that the Board has been too reactive to the political process recently. Changing its rules to suit one group would move the Board closer to day to day politics, not further away. 4) The current Chancellor and Vice Chancellor should have a role in choosing their replacements. Organizations where outgoing leaders are leaving voluntarily have those leaders participate in the process of vetting their successors. In addition, the Board should take advantage of the current Chancellor and Vice Chancellor’s combined 40 years on the Board, rather than on new members who will be sitting in their first meeting. 5) The Board rules and practices shouldn’t change simply because an outside interest group wants to suit its political purposes. In a time of such significant transition it is imperative the Board of Regents remain consistent with its long standing rules and practices. An 11th hour change to the long held date for choosing Board leadership could undermine the public's confidence in those practices. We look forward to working with whomever the Board chooses, so that all children in New York State have equal access to a high quality, rigorous education. Sincerely, Amanda Barney English Teacher Mattituck Jr. Sr. High School Heather C. Briccetti President and CEO Business Council of New York State Inc. Neal Gorka English Teacher Democracy Prep Kim Hardwick Principal Clayton Huey Elementary School Jill Kafka Executive Director Partnership for Inner City Education Brenda W. McDuffie Chief Executive Officer Buffalo Urban League Kim Namkoong Co-President Bethlehem Central Parents for Excellence Jenn O’Connor NY State Director Council for a Strong America Samuel L. Radford III President Buffalo School District Parent Coordinating Council (DPCC); Governor’s Common Core Task Force, Member Arva Rice President and CEO New York Urban League Sheri Rodman Program Manager America Achieves NY Educator Voice Fellowship Kevin Rothman House Principal Excelsior Academy Nancy Ruscio Superintendent Homer Central School District Jonathan Schatz Felix V. Festa Middle School Campus Principal, D-School Jenny Sedlis Executive Director Students First NY Donna Seymour Vice President, NY Public Policy American Association of University Women Stephen Sigmund Executive Director High Achievement New York Evan Stone Co-Founder and Co-CEO Educators 4 Excellence Jason Zwara Executive Director Buffalo Reform Ed