Today, Common Core reform legislation (A.3656) sponsored by Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) was taken up by the Assembly Education Committee. Earlier this year, Ra, the ranking minority member on that committee, re-introduced the measure to help stop the current test-centric curriculum and re-establish a set of New York State education standards with proper input from education stakeholders. Unfortunately, the bill was held in committee today by the Assembly Majority and will not reach the floor for a full debate and vote.

“The Assembly Majority is once again playing politics with our children’s education by rejecting this opportunity for reform, and instead, they’re supporting legislation that is too little, too late,” said Ra. “This was our chance to take a step back and restore control to our schools at the local level, where it belongs. Instead, we are doing a great disservice to our children, their families, and our educators by continuing a broken education system.”

The comprehensive legislation would prohibit the state from mandating use of Common Core curriculum and associated testing until a Blue Ribbon Commission can review and make recommendations regarding education in the state. The commission, which would be comprised of local teachers, students, parents and school boards, would be empowered to revitalize and create a new set of education standards specifically tailored to New York State.

“In recent weeks, the message from parents and students was loud and clear,” said Ra. “We have reached a record number of test refusals across the state, and here we are, once again, blocking one of the few pieces of legislation that would implement meaningful reform and eliminate the high-stakes testing. While today’s committee vote was discouraging, I assure New York residents that our conference will continue to work side-by-side with local stakeholders to put New York’s education system back on track for success.”

A.3656 was derived from the 14 forums held by the Assembly Minority Conference in 2013. Many parents, teachers, community leaders and education experts voiced their opposition to Common Core by participating in the statewide forums.