Senator Marc Panepinto Comments on Urgent Letter Sent to Chancellor Merryl Tisch Earlier Today

“Tonight’s announcement is essentially a band-aid to a larger problem.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Senator Marc Panepinto released the following statement on the urgent letter he sent to Chancellor Merryl Tisch earlier today:

“While I applaud Chancellor Tisch for finally putting policy over politics, she has not gone far enough. Tonight’s announcement is essentially a band-aid to a larger problem. It still does not address the fact that standardized testing was never designed or meant to evaluate teachers. It has always been intended to serve as a learning tool that actually improves the quality and equity of public education for every student. That is why I sent the Chancellor a letter earlier today calling for a two-year moratorium on the creation of any high stakes  testing “evaluation” system until the impact of the Governor’s ill-vetted testing policy could be fully studied. This cannot be done by the June 30^th deadline that the Chancellor acknowledged she still plans to enforce with the Board of Regents. That said, tonight’s announcement is a victory for the grassroots movement that has finally forced Albany to listen.  It is my hope now that the Chancellor will take my letter and the pleas of millions of concerned New Yorkers seriously and actually give due consideration to the impact and rationale behind high stakes testing.”

Letter to Chancellor Tisch is attached below.