Buffalo School Board Member Encourages Support for Common Core Standards
New York State United Teachers is fighting to prevent the implementation of a teacher evaluation system as part of Common Core standards that would better prepare students for college.
James M. Sampson of the West District on the Buffalo School Board writes an opinion piece encouraging citizens to stand behind Governor Andrew Cuomo, and State Education Commissioner John King.
Sampson writes in The Buffalo News:
The union’s call for a three-year moratorium on using the new standards to evaluate teachers would be a step in the wrong direction. That’s the kind of thinking that has kept the bar too low for too long. With only 9 percent of Buffalo students hitting language arts standards and only 12 percent in math, we know that we have to demand more of our district and of ourselves.
We need to stand with the governor and King, not the special interests dedicated to the status quo. Change is never easy, but we are failing our students if we shrink from this moment.
