SERINO: NOW IS THE TIME FOR NEW YORK TO ABANDON COMMON CORE AND LEAD ON EDUCATION REFORM

SERINO: NOW IS THE TIME FOR NEW YORK TO ABANDON COMMON CORE AND LEAD ON EDUCATION REFORM

HYDE PARK, NY— NYS Senator Sue Serino (R, C, I—Hyde Park) released the following statement regarding the federal government’s passage of the Every Child Succeeds Act: 

“Thanks to the pressure from myself and my colleagues in the NYS Senate, spurred by the tireless advocacy of parents and educators across the state, today it was announced that Congress and the U.S. Senate finally agreed upon a bill that would release states from a number of onerous mandates, particularly as they relate to Common Core. 

First and foremost, under this new bill agreement, the federal government is prohibited from establishing or even encouraging a set of educational standards, including the Common Core. States will be free to establish their own set of challenging academic standards with the input from educators and without interference or incentives from Washington D.C.  

While the State Legislature was successful in addressing a number of concerns with regard to Common Core, such as placing constraints on testing and requiring a review of the standards to ensure they are appropriate, we needed action from the federal government to create our own set of high standards. 

This is the opportunity that we have been waiting for. Being released from some federal mandates means the federal government has finally gotten the message that they have no business dictating the ways in which we educate our children. For the first time in years, we have the chance to restore local control, abandon Common Core once and for all and lead the way to meaningful, quality education reform. 

We now have the freedom we deserve and the flexibility necessary to adopt our own set of high quality standards rather than be forced to adhere to a cookie cutter approach. I commend the our local representative, Congressman Chris Gibson, for leading the fight on this important issue. 

It is imperative that New York maintains its independence when educating our children and now, we are empowered to do so.The door is open for our state to regain control of educating our children.  I encourage the Board of Regents to seize the opportunity to repeal Common Core and adopt new, challenging standards to ensure our children are ready and prepared for college and careers in the 21st Century economy.”