Assemblyman Christopher S. Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats), a sponsor of Assembly Bill 3656, better known as the APPLE Plan, saw the bill defeated during an Assembly Committee on Education meeting. The bill would have put a two-year moratorium on the Common Core testing, increased funding for BOCES, eliminated the Gap Elimination Adjustment, and ensured IEPs were followed and the IEP team’s recommendations were not disregarded.

“Coming on the heels of an unprecedented opt-out movement across our state, I hoped the Assembly Majority would have allowed this bill through to the floor,” Friend said. “Thousands of concerned parents refused the tests, and that should have served as a wake-up call for those in power. Sadly, it appears it has not. We must stop this Common Core high-stakes model in its tracks, and return control of our education system to our schools. Our children deserve it, our teachers deserve it, and our future demands it.”