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Repair!ng the Common Core Assembly GOP releases plan to fix new curriculum By ALEX COSTELLO acostello@liherald.com The New York State Assembly Minority Conference released a report last week outlining changes it felt should be made to the state's approach in implementing the controversial Common Core learning stan- dards. The 14-page report outlines changes that grew out of discussions the Minority Conference — Assembly Republicans — held after meetings on the Common Core that were held all over the state. Called the Achieving Pupil Preparedness and Learning Excellence plan, or APPLE, the recommended changes were wide-rang- ing: slowing down the implementation of Common Core, providing more funding to schools for curriculum development, more professional development for teachers, more-help for children with special needs, and many more. \Families ... across New York state are angry, scared and frustrated by the quality of education their children are receiving as teachers and administrators struggle to meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards,\ said Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb, a Republican from Canandaigua. \As a former educator, I know their concerns are valid. Minority members of the Assembly Education Committee have listened to families and teachers from across New York in order to develop this comprehensive look at criti- cally needed reforms to our state's educa- tion system.\ The report by the Assembly Minority came a few weeks after the state's educa- tion commissioner, Dr. John King Jr., took part in similar forums across the state, in which many parents and educators said their complaints about Common Core seemed to fall on deaf ears. The Assembly report focuses on six areas that came into focus during its meet- ings: curriculum, data collection, teacher support, funding, student anxiety and spe- cial education. At the forefront of the list were changes in the curriculum itself. The report did not advocate repealing Common Core, but rather slowing down its implementation and re-evaluating its standards. One of the problems the conference outlined was the over-reliance of some school districts on the state's curriculum modules, which it released to the public on its EngageNY website. The modules were meant to sup- plement locally developed curriculum, but some districts, due to a lack of resources, have been using only the modules. The report recommends providing districts with technical and financial support to allow them to develop their own curricu- lum, and reimbursing those that already have. \Simply put, Common Core is failing our children, parents and educators,\ said Assemblyman Ed Ra, a Republican from Franklin Square and the ranking minority member of the Assembly Education Committee. \The APPLE plan takes the input of these people, the ones most invested in our children's education, into account and halts the flawed implementa- tion j standards and high-stakes testing of Common Core. With this comprehensive package, our educators can get back to what they do best — providing our chil- dren with the quality education they need to have a happy and successful future.\ Another of the most pressing issues for parents was data collection, specifically the sharing of student data with the. pri- vate, not-for-profit company inBloom. \To many,\ the report reads, \inBloom exemplifies the unnerving connection between private industry and public edu- cation.\ The minority caucus recommend- ed passing measures that would require parents to consent to any sharing of their children's data, and demanding strict pri- vacy policies from any company collect- ing that data. The report went on to recommend more professional development funding for teachers (since their jobs are now linked to students' grasp of the new curriculum), reducing the time students spend on tests and easing the emphasis on the tests. It also suggested phasing in the curriculum one year at a time, which would allow stu- dents to build the foundations they need to understand the more rigorous curriculum. In response to the concerns expressed by parents of special-education children, the report recommended providing those children with more support and under- standing. \The Common Core standards rely on a dangerous assumption that all students learn the same way,\ the report reads. \Special needs students require different learning experiences tailored to their unique needs.\ Dr. Carol Burns, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, a vocal opponent of the way the Common Core is being implemented, agreed with many aspects of the report. \In some cases, I'm not sure they go far enough,\ Bums said of the recommendations. \But certainly, if their solutions were put in place, it would make a substantial differ- ence. 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