A report released on December 10 revealed the findings of a 15-person task force appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and all signs point to a total overhaul of Common Core standards in the state.

One of the biggest suggestions from the task force is that state-administered exams do not count towards teacher evaluations until the 2019-2010 school year, when new standards can be adopted.

Though Cuomo says he is committed to challenging academic standards, he has indicated that he will support totally overhauling the Common Core standards within the next five years.

"The report is the latest step in the state’s retreat from the Common Core school standards, national benchmarks that New York adopted in 2010, and especially from using student test scores in teacher evaluations. It comes in the wake of a rebellion by parents against testing; one-fifth of students did not sit for the state exams this year, a fourfold increase from the previous year,” said the New York Times.

Indeed, New York saw an unprecedented opt-out movement in which hundreds of thousands of students did not take state exams as many parents stood in support of teachers’ disapproval of evaluations under the standards.

The New York task force’s decision is just another serious blow to the Common Core standards, coming not long after education leader Massachusetts also announced it would be ditching the standards to develop its own.

And with the passing of the Every Student Succeeds Act, both the education secretary and the Department of Education can no longer push or even encourage academic standards over others.

Many are saying that the Common Core represents failed efforts of soon-to-be resigned Arne Duncan that will further deteriorate after his leave from office.

Read more here, and take our poll below to voice your current opinion on the Common Core.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

12/11/2015