American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten has stated her support for the Common Core curriculum and exams, which all New York students took last month. But Weingarten wants to remove the provision that ties teacher evaluations to the Common Core test. According to AM New York, this will allow ineffective teachers to remain in schools:
"She says she wants to decouple the tests from decisions that could hurt students, teachers and schools. 'Put the brakes on the stakes,' Weingarten said in an address this week to the Association for a Better New York.
"Bad idea. While it was heartening to hear Weingarten support the Common Core standards in her presentation -- and she's right that the rollout has been ragged and messy -- a formal moratorium would be a mistake."
AM New York argues that Weingarten's position sounds like a union delaying tactic. The AFT is the parent organization of New York City's United Federation of Teachers, which has been against any sort of reform for the City's public schools. The delays could be endless, leaving New York’s schoolchildren behind:
"'Put the brakes on the stakes?' Sorry. Politicians, unions and school administrators can bicker and brawl forever about what's fair, what's not, what's reasonable and what's absurd. Procedural fights only take us so far. At some point the reform process has to begin. Time's up."
