Senator Martins Applauds Recommendations of Common Core Task Force

Jack M. Martins

December 14, 2015

“The recommendations of the Common Core Task Force reinforce what we’ve known all along; that the rollout of Common Core was deeply flawed and major change is needed.

Developing high quality standards with input from parents and educators, reducing standardized testing, ensuring that all stakeholders have a role in developing tests, and providing flexibility for students with disabilities are all important reforms that parents and teachers have called for. They also build off of similar actions the State Legislature took this past June to address the concerns of parents, teachers, and local school districts. Everyone is in favor of higher standards, but those standards should be developed with extensive local input, not dictated to us in a one-size-fits-all manner by the federal government.

This is a great step in the right direction. I expect that the Board of Regents and the State Education Department will act on these recommendations as soon as possible.”