Statement From Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan

Recently, members of both houses of the Legislature introduced a bill whose goal is to further decouple the testing of students and the performance of teachers.

Since it was first introduced, the State Education Department, the New York State School Boards Association, and the New York Council of School Superintendents have raised concerns that the legislation as written could inadvertently open the door to even more testing than we have now.  Nobody - not students, not parents, not teachers, nor myself or my legislative colleagues - wants that outcome.  With this in mind, we are performing an extensive review of this legislation to determine the best path forward.  

As the former Chairman of the Senate's Education Committee, I am proud of the record amounts of state aid this Legislature has provided so students have the resources they need to learn and thrive.  I am pleased that we have taken meaningful steps to ensure every child, regardless of where they live or how much success their parents have achieved, has a shot at a first-class education.  The last thing we want to do is to make a mistake that rolls back the progress that has been won on behalf of the students of our state.

In the coming weeks and months, we will have important discussions with all of the stakeholders in the education community on this and other education reform issues and then together we will all act accordingly.