“Following the recent news of Arne Duncan’s resignation, I was disappointed with the decision to appoint former New York State Education Commissioner John King as acting U.S. Secretary of Education.

“Throughout Duncan’s tenure, we saw an increasing encroachment on each state’s ability to control the inner workings of their education systems. Through Race to the Top funding and ‘No Child Left Behind’ waivers, the federal government pushed states to adopt Common Core standards and unproven teacher evaluation programs. In a similarly misguided manner, King’s term in New York was polarizing and disappointing, as the concerns of parents and educators across New York were disregarded by our State Education Department. Under the direction of these individuals, many New York parents have lost faith in the decisions made by both the state and federal education departments.

“Despite this questionable transition of Duncan to King, our message at the state and federal levels must remain consistent. In the best interests of our children and schools, Congress must work with the U.S. Senate to rectify their differences and take action to restore local control of education and scale back mandated testing. A return to grade-span testing, as outlined in legislation introduced by Rep. Chris Gibson (NY-19), would greatly reduce the emphasis on testing in our schools. By implementing appropriate educational standards and separating testing from teacher evaluations, we can restore New York State to its role as a leader in public education.”