Ra: Legislative Session Ends Without Real Education Reform

Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) believes that as legislative session ends, the real issues and concerns of New York’s residents have been mostly left without real action. In the final hours of the 2014 session, the Assembly passed legislation (A.10168) that temporarily halts teachers from being evaluated based upon assessments distributed in alignment with the Common Core curriculum. While this is a step in the right direction, it is merely a half-hearted attempt to fix the looming issues of the Common Core curriculum.

“As the school year and legislative session comes to an end, we are left with little to celebrate,” said Ra. “By passing legislation that permits the dismissal of student test scores and teacher evaluations, we are admitting that these tests are flawed. If that is the case, why are our children still being forced to take them?”

Over the course of the 2014 session, the Assembly Minority Conference has strongly stood behind the need to reform Common Core. The call from educators, students and parents to review the curriculum and address the flaws was heard by Ra and his colleagues long ago. However, the Assembly Majority chose to play politics over education and put off any attempt to provide reform.

“My colleagues and I were the first to bring attention to the concerns heard across the state, but instead our priorities were ignored,” Ra continued. “Since day one, we have led the charge to review and delay Common Core, and I can assure the concerned residents of New York that while the 2014 session has come to an end, my fight to fix our education system in its entirety is still going strong. Our children deserve to be put first, not left behind.”