Matt Hamilton and Bethany Bump are reporting at Capitol Confidential a majority of the more than 700 school districts in New York may be exempted from implementing the new teacher evaluation system this year. Districts that are not already approved have until Fri., Oct. 30, to submit a hardship waiver application to the state Education Department. The waiver grants districts an extension on the Nov. 15 deadline to implement the state's new teacher evaluation system. That system would tie 50 percent of a teachers' annual evaluation to their students' scores on state tests. Districts that do not receive a waiver and fail to comply with the new evaluation system risk losing eligibility for a state aid increase. Districts that get the waiver still have to evaluate teachers and building principals under the old system. The waiver is good until March. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.