The New York State United Teachers鈥� board of directors on Saturday withdrawing its support for the Common Core State Standards in New York due to poor implementation鈥攁nd coupled it with a vote of 鈥渘o confidence鈥� in state Commissioner John King.
The state鈥檚 鈥渋mplementation plan in New York state has failed. The commissioner has pursued policies that repeatedly ignore the voices of parents and educators who have identified problems and called on him to move more thoughtfully,鈥� said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi in a statement. He went on to call for King鈥檚 removal.
The action makes good on NYSUT鈥檚 King several months ago, as Teacher Beat then reported. The 600,000-member union has been particularly riled up about the Regents鈥� decision to administer assessments aligned to the common core before materials and curricula were widely disseminated and taught. (Students posted on the test last August.) It wants a three-year moratorium on the use of test results for judging students, schools, or teachers.
While the call for King鈥檚 ouster is largely symbolic and unlikely to have any real consequence, the union鈥檚 about-face on the common core potentially signals new worries for the standards鈥� supporters. The standards have been buffeted by political critiques by both right and left in recently months.
To be clear, none of the 46 states that has adopted the standards has yet 鈥渦n-adopted them,鈥� though there are . Testing, though, is in a more precarious situation. Several states have pulled out of the two federally funded consortia developing exams related to the standards, or have backed off promises to use the exams.
NYSUT鈥檚 move is also notable because both of its parent unions have been among the strongest supporters of the new expectations. The American Federation of Teachers has dedicated issue after issue of its American Educator magazine to them, and the National Education Association鈥檚 president gave an of the common core recently. And both unions have put member dues behind curriculum and training on the standards.
The resolution next goes to NYSUT鈥檚 delegates before it鈥檚 officially a done deal.
Here鈥檚 one thing to mull over: Could there be a similar resolution introduced at the American Federation of Teachers鈥� convention this summer? Politically, the AFT is in a bit of an upheaval, with of a split between Iannuzzi and the president of AFT鈥檚 New York City local promising to make this year鈥檚 session much more dramatic than usual.
, but it bears repeating: In their effort to win breathing room on testing, are the unions risking bringing down the entire common-core house of cards?