The ultimatum that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo issued to school districts and unions Tuesday may be the boldest move by any governor in the nation to accelerate school reform, experts say.

Impatient with schools' progress in reforming their evaluations of teachers and principals, Cuomo ratcheted up the pressure in an unprecedented proposal that would make increases in school aid contingent upon implementing the new evaluations.

"He's lighting a fire under [the schools], saying, 'Get this taken care of,'" said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, a national group. "This is a very strong action on the governor's part."

At stake is about $1 billion in federal aid for New York's schools if the reforms are not implemented quickly.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan last week criticized New York for its failure to adopt the new evaluations, as well as its failure to implement a new student data system.

"New York has a chance to be a national leader, or a laggard, and we are only interested in supporting real courage and bold leadership," he said.

Cuomo's announcement Tuesday, unveiled as part of his executive budget, may stem from New York being the farthest of any state from implementing the teacher evaluations under criteria for the federal Race to the Top program, Jennings said. A lawsuit by New York State United Teachers against the state Education Department has helped keep the issue at a virtual standstill.

When the state won nearly $700 million in Race to the Top funds two years ago, it agreed to do certain things, including implement the evaluations. That hasn't happened, and Duncan has threatened to pull that money, along with nearly $300 million in other federal aid.

"Duncan is saying, 'You promised to do certain things, and now you didn't,'" Jennings said. "It seems like Duncan is willing to withhold money to get states to do it. It's unusual in federal aid to education, but I think he's serious about it."

NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi said in a statement that the union shared Cuomo's frustration over delays in implementing the evaluation law but that "we think there are better ways to achieve implementation rather than tying it to funding increases that benefit students."

He pinned the delays in implementation on the state Education Department, citing the state's appeal of a court ruling over the lawsuits that favored the union, along with a delay in establishing a student data system and determining a measure of student growth, both of which were required under the state's Race to the Top application. State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. this month suspended school-improvement grant funds slated for Buffalo and nine other low-performing districts, saying they had failed to reach adequate agreements on the evaluations. He gave them 30 days to request a hearing to ask the state to reconsider its position.

Tuesday, the governor raised the stakes.

Cuomo gave the state Education Department and NYSUT 30 days to agree on a new evaluation system and resolve the lawsuit. If they don't, Cuomo said, he will write the standards for the evaluation system, which districts and unions would then have to abide by -- rather than having the specifics negotiated at the local level by 700 districts and unions.

That notion did not sit well with some educators.

"I'm not sure any governor should be directing the evaluation of classroom instruction any more than I would want him to go into the hospital and determine effective practice," said Donald A. Ogilvie, superintendent of Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services. "To have someone take something that's unsettled and mandate a solution -- ultimately I'm not convinced it's good for teaching and learning."

Schools that do not implement a state-approved evaluation system by Jan. 17, 2013, will lose their 2012-13 increase in state aid. The governor's budget includes a total increase of $805 million in aid to schools, which includes $250 million for competitive grants tied to increased academic performance and management efficiency.

The governor's linking of aid increases to implementation of new evaluations won support from many state and local groups who said a dramatic move was needed to break the inertia. Among them: the New York State School Boards Association, the New York State Council of School Superintendents, Buffalo's District Parent Coordinating Council and Buffalo ReformED.

"It's a sacred cow. If you're going to go after this, you might as well go after it with a big hammer," said Timothy G. Kremer, executive director of the State School Boards Association.

"Gov. Cuomo understands that performance and accountability are cornerstones of bringing necessary reform to our schools," said Hannya Boulos, executive director of Buffalo ReformED.

Many cited Cuomo's ability to gain approval last year for legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, something that others had attempted before but failed to enact. Now, some say, Cuomo seems to be putting the same focus this year on school reform that he did last year on gay marriage.

"He's demonstrated an impressive ability to get things done, and he's being very aggressive on this," said Robert N. Lowry, deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

The governor's announcement evoked a relatively mild response from Buffalo Teachers Federation President Philip Rumore, who said he has been meeting with district officials consistently over the last several days to work out an agreement acceptable to both sides. At the same time, Rumore said Cuomo's threat of withholding funding increases was offensive.

"To cut the funding out from already underfunded school districts is like rubbing salt into the wound," he said.

In Albany, though, even some of organized labor's closest allies backed Cuomo's announcement.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, whose house has been close with the teachers unions over the years, said the governor's teacher-evaluation funding threat is "not a problem" with him.

"I believe there'll be agreements across the state. I believe there's an incentive for both sides to come to an agreement," Silver said, noting that districts don't want to lose state aid and that teachers want to ensure that districts have enough money to avoid having to cut the ranks of their colleagues.

"It makes sense," Silver said of Cuomo's plan.

Tom Precious of The News Albany Bureau contributed to this report.

mpasciak@buffnews.comnull