Cuomo commission pushes longer school day, year

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Credit Victoria Choi / Flickr

Many of the recommendations released Wednesday have been proposed before but blocked by politics or lack of funding. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says those remain major obstacles.

Some of the ideas are already in place to some degree, including teacher competency tests and using schools to address health, mental health and other social needs.

The commission noted Finland recruits the top 10 percent of college graduates into teaching, while the United States draws from the bottom third or half.

It also wants to reward top educators and consolidate administrations.

Cuomo may back some of the proposals in his State of the State speech.

© 2013 AP