“Last night’s news that the State Education Department (SED) plans to delay implementation of the new teacher evaluations until September 2016 is a major victory for our students, teachers and parents. A little more than three weeks ago, the Assembly Minority Conference debated the poorly-devised and irresponsible education budget bill for about six hours. Now, teamed with the teachers’ union and parents who are fed up with Common Core testing and have opted their children out, we have forced SED and The Board of Regents to buckle. Why hasn’t the Assembly Majority, many of whom stood in staunch support of the new evaluations, come out to defend their platform? The Assembly Minority has stood up against Common Core and these irresponsible teacher evaluations from the beginning, not just when it was timely or popular to do so.”