Cuomo Expected to Announce New Education Commission Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to announce Wednesday in his State of the State address that he will convene a statewide commission to address a wide range of education issues, including improving student performance and school accountability, according to people familiar with the plan. The commission is likely to address Mr. Cuomo's oft-repeated concern that the state finances schools with taxpayer money regardless of their performance, according to these people. In recent weeks, the governor has emphasized the need to provide financial incentives to districts to improve achievement. Plans to establish the commission were reported Monday by The Daily News. Mr. Cuomo's aides declined to discuss the commission, but education advocates and others said the governor had talked informally about gathering a group of education experts to study and recommend reforms. Merryl H. Tisch, chancellor of the New York Board of Regents, said she would urge Mr. Cuomo and his commission to help advance a statewide teacher evaluation system, which has stalled over opposition from teachers and district officials. Dr. Tisch said they should also look at consolidating school districts to reduce costs, and review unfunded state mandates, including pension and health care costs, imposed on districts. Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, an advocacy group, said that he welcomed the commission as a way to bring more attention to education, but cautioned that its focus should not be just to raise test scores. The question is: what do we mean by performance? Often it is a code word for test scores," Mr. Easton said. What we found is the emphasis on test scores under No Child Left Behind has narrowed the curriculum, increased teaching to the test, and has not been successful in preparing students for college and careers. Robert N. Lowry Jr., deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, said that as governor, Mario M. Cuomo appointed a commission in the early 1990s to address questions about school financing and performance. "It produced a valuable analysis among other things, and made some recommendations that became the governor's education agenda in the next session," Mr. Lowry said.