SHERBURNE – With a list of new proposals for public education on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2015 opportunities agenda, New York State Assemblyman Gary Finch met with teachers and administrators at the Sherburn-Earlville Central School on Friday to hash out what it could mean for schools across the state.

Finch toured Sherburne-Earlville’s facilities, meeting with teachers, administrators and students to address key concerns as the state legislature begins negotiations for the 2015-2016 budget. The visit was a chance for educators to share their views of the governor’s executive budget which has been marked with criticism by teachers’ unions for allegedly attacking public education.

Critics argue that the governor’s proposed education reform would take money away from public schools in order to fund more charter schools, thus taking steps to privatize education. The proposal would also limit the power of school boards, allow a takeover of the NY Board of Regents to give full control over public education to the governor, increase testing, and withhold preliminary funding amounts needed to formulate a school budget if schools don’t agree with the new terms.

Additionally, the governor put a more stringent teacher evaluation process on the table that would provide a financial incentive for high performing teachers while essentially banishing from the classroom teachers who don’t score as “effective” or “improving” for two consecutive years.