State PTA President: Delay Common Core Testing

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The New York State Parent Teacher Association is calling for a timeout in implementing the Common Core testing curriculum in schools.

Speaking in Garden City, Long Island, on Tuesday, state PTA President Lana Ajemian announced the group, which has about 300,000 members, is launching a campaign called "Hear Our Voice," which aims to convince the state Department of Education to halt Common Core testing for at least one year. She hopes a delay will allow for more dialogue between educators, parents and state officials.

"We've been asking for a one-year delay and the link between the student-testing outcomes and the use of those outcomes to evaluate teachers," Ajemian told reporters, including WCBS 880's Sophia Hall and 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera. "If the curriculum and the instruction has not been fully implemented in the classrom, how valid are those results at that point, and how useful are those results at that point?"

Parents and teachers are in favor of the higher standards of the Common Core, Ajemian said. But she added that the implementation of the curriculum thus far has been rushed and the testing is excessive, which has "already shaken confidence in the Common Core."

"There's too much testing," she said. "Sitting at a desk for hours at a time for young children is not a good idea.

"We cannot afford more confusion and discontent."

A Department of Education spokesperson said the agency opposes one-year moratorium because nearly all teachers were found to competent to educate students about the new standards.

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