Governor Andrew Cuomo Monday announced creation of a Common Core Task Force to review and make recommendations to overhaul the current system and the way students are tested.
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And they will be aiming to cut down on the testing.
Creation of the panel comes as Cuomo has been repeatedly criticized by union leaders for his insistence on a teacher evaluation system that depends heavily on student test scores.
With parents and teachers on one side, the state on the other, many believe the governor simply didn’t have a choice.
Cuomo has supported the higher standards, and he has battled with teachers’ unions over education policy – often becoming the target of the ire by education groups.
Cuomo acknowledged several times that the state’s rollout of Common Core was flawed.
He said today that the number of tests should be reduced.
Malamed, who said by phone Monday evening that he’s lobbying the Cuomo administration to create a student advisory council system, had a mixed initial reaction to the lack of a student representative on the governor’s new task force.
Cuomo has asked the task force to deliver a report by the end of the year that includes a review and potential reforms of the learning standards, as well as materials and resources the state provides to districts to help guide their development of curriculum. The governor tapped Richard Parsons, the former chairman of Citigroup and Time Warner Inc.to lead the review.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Che Dawson, co-chairman of the board of education’s Governance Committee, said he found the results “alarming” and that he had problems reconciling the graduation rate to the numbers portrayed in the data.
“We can all agree that our students deserve every opportunity they can to learn and grow – and having tough, fair standards is crucial to ensuring that they receive those opportunities”, Parsons said.
The public can submit recommendations on a new website: ny.gov/CommonCoreTaskForce.
The task force will be comprised of educators – ranging from grade school teachers to administrators to some of the state’s top education officials.
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Sullivan County Legislature Chairman Scott Samuelson said the state “must have strong learning standards that educate all of our students and help them tap into their full potential – however, those standards must also be sensibly implemented and should not cause undue anxiety to students, parents and educators”.
