If teachers unions put as much effort into improving test scores as dodging accountability, students in New York’s public schools would have markedly better chances for success in life.
The New York State United Teachers union rallied again last week to pressure Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to reverse her decision to opt into a federal tax-credit scholarship program that would benefit students. Union bosses fear it would boost enrollment in private and religious schools, where it’s harder for unions to collect dues.
No wonder NYSUT feels threatened by more competition: Only 48 percent of New York public school students in grades three through eight can read proficiently, according to preliminary assessments released last month by the state. Bad scores aren’t for lack of investment: New York spends more per pupil than any other state.
Instead of rising to the challenge, NYSUT would prefer the state water down standards. “More teaching, less testing” is the union’s mantra. Manhattan Institute fellow Jennifer Weber told us, “They don’t want the tests because they don’t want to be held to the data and the outcomes.”
Last week, the unions won a big battle in their crusade against accountability when the New York State Board of Regents voted to end the use of the Regents exam as a high school graduation requirement. Though students will continue to take the test, the board says it will develop a different set of graduation requirements, such as being a “critical thinker” and “effective communicator.” But how will those skills be measured?
New York’s Education Department has joined the anti-transparency brigades by blocking U.S. News & World Report from gaining access to the state’s Advanced Placement scores. New York claims it’s protecting student data from being used for a “commercial product.” In reality, suppressing aggregate data on AP scores covers up the shortcomings of public schools while handicapping higher performing alternatives, such as the charter network Success Academy.
One of the network’s high schools was ranked 11th in the state last year when U.S. News factored in AP scores. This year, without the AP scores available, the school fell to 196th. Success Academy is suing the state and deserves to win.
Decline is a choice, but so is excellence. Consider Mississippi, which went from being tied for last place in fourth-grade reading in 2019 to seventh in the nation in 2024. The state adopted a science-backed reading curriculum and used testing for regular screening, holding back students when necessary.
Hochul tried to follow that example in 2024 when she signed budget legislation that mandated school districts adopt the “science of reading.” But over 20 percent of districts were still using debunked methods as of last December.
The Progressive Policy Institute, a center-left think tank, found recently that stronger presence of teacher unions in a state is negatively correlated with the adoption of literacy programs.
New York schools are flunking the teaching of reading, but at least the failure offers a valuable lesson for Hochul: The unions that represent teachers clearly care more about their members than students. To arrest the state’s education spiral, the governor will have to stand up to organized labor’s bullying. Refusing to surrender on the federal tax-credit scholarship program would be a good start.
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