uear Member,

1hank you for your swlfL and dlllgenL response Lo our acLlon emall lasL week. Cur
comblned volces senL more Lhan 8,000 messages Lo Lhe uS SecreLary of LducaLlon, n?S
Commlssloner, 8oard of 8egenLs and sLaLe leglslaLors Lo lobby for a call Lo acLlon wlLh
regard Lo lmplemenLaLlon of Lhe Common Core.

Movlng forward, please conslder aLLendlng one of Lhe upcomlng SLu-sponsored forums
ln order Lo conLlnue Lhls lmporLanL dlalogue. 8ecenL publlc recognlLlon by Lhe
Commlssloner LhaL LesLlng of our chlldren may be Loo exLenslve and Common Core
lmplemenLaLlon can be lmproved provldes us wlLh a greaL opporLunlLy Lo conLlnue Lo
press our overall message: SLu musL be more dellberaLe and hear Lhe lmporLance of a
clear and conslsLenL message LhaL ls lnLegral Lo any reform. WlLh Lhls ln mlnd, we are
offerlng a new campalgn CC8L Lo Lake wlLh you Lo Lhe forum:

Va|ue lnpuL from parenLs
Crder a one-year delay
Imp|ement flrsL, LesL second
Create lmproved, flexlble LesLlng
Lxpand professlonal developmenL


?ou wlll noLlce LhaL Lhese flve key polnLs spell ouL Lhe word vClCL, Lhls ls lnLenLlonal.
Cur 1A VCICL musL be heard and easy Lo remember. We sLand for !"#!$%&" (")!*+"!
LhaL wlll help all chlldren and famllles reallze Lhe promlse of Lhe Common Core
sLandards.

lease bear ln mlnd LhaL Lhese flve key polnLs are qulLe conclse and meanL Lo geL
aLLenLlon. Cn Lhe nexL page, we have ouLllned wlLh greaLer deLall whaL Lhe polnLs mean.
We ask LhaL you carefully read Lhls lnformaLlon and vlslL Lhe llnk on our page LhaL
provldes more deLall, so LhaL as you Lalk wlLh fellow parenLs, aLLend local or reglonal
forums, or lndlvldually advocaLe for chlldren and famllles, your vClCL can be heard!

hLLp://capwlz.com/npLa2/ny/lssues/alerL/?alerLld=62978931.


LlsLed below are Lhe daLes and known locaLlons for upcomlng forums. As deLalls of
Lhese and addlLlonal forums become known Lo us, we wlll posL Lhem Lo our webslLe and
soclal medla, so please check back frequenLly.

1hursday, november 7: 8ochesLer (18A)
1uesday, november 12: Ward Melvllle PS ln 1hree vlllage 6-8 p.m.
Wednesday, november 13: Mlneola Plgh School 4-6 p.m.
Monday, november 23: SouLhern 1ler (18A)
1uesday, november 26: 8lverhead PS (LenLaLlve) 6-8 p.m.
1uesday, uecember 3: Syracuse (18A)
Monday, uecember 9: nassau CounLy (18A)

1hank you for your conLlnued supporL.

Slncerely,

Lana Ajemian
President, NYS PTA
Reflect the past, Transform today, Inspire tomorrow!
president@nyspta.org
1alklng olnLs

1he followlng gulde has been creaLed Lo help you ln your efforLs Lo lndlvldually advocaLe
for !"#!$%&" (")!*+"! Lo reallze Lhe promlse of Lhe Common Core.

Va|ue lnpuL from parenLs

What we mean and how to use |t: lL has only been wlLhln Lhe pasL several days
(laLe CcLober) LhaL recognlLlon of Lhe concerned volces of parenLs, educaLlonal
professlonals and leglslaLors has been acknowledged ln a meanlngful way by Lhe
Commlssloner and Lhe 8oard of 8egenLs. As parenLs, our lnpuL should be
consldered mosL lmporLanL Lo sLaLe offlclals. We musL conLlnue Lo help Lhem
undersLand LhaL Lhey musL value our LhoughLs and concerns as a flrsL prlorlLy.
AdopLlon and lmplemenLaLlon of Lhe naLlonal SLandards for lamlly School
arLnershlps and Lhe accompanylng AssessmenL, and recommendaLlons for
professlonal developmenL ln famlly engagemenL, by Lhe 8oard of 8egenLs would
go a long way Lo accompllsh meanlngful Lwo-way communlcaLlon beLween home
and school. A|| advocacy shou|d start w|th th|s rem|nder!


Crder a one-year delay

What we mean and how to use |t: We need to suspend the ||nk between
student test resu|ts and educator eva|uat|on for at |east a year. Ia||ure to
separate the mu|t|p|e |ssues com|ng at us a|| at once |s and w||| cont|nue to
have a negat|ve |mpact on our educators' most |mportant task: |earn|ng new
content and adapt|ng to new methods of |nstruct|on that w||| enhance student
success. new ?ork appears Lo be Lhe only sLaLe LhaL has nC1 Laken a dellberaLe
and sequenLlal approach Lo lmplemenLlng Lhese mulLlple reforms. 1he
Commlssloner and Lhe 8oard of 8egenLs have Lhe power Lo be responslve Lo our
concerns by lmplemenLlng change properly. We need aL leasL a year of breaLhlng
room for classroom educaLors Lo focus on Lhe hlghesL prlorlLy Lask - adapLlng Lo
new conLenL and meLhods of lnsLrucLlon - and noL be concerned abouL
performance evaluaLlon. our comments shou|d focus on th|s sens|b|e so|ut|on,
one that he|ps everyone understand what they are work|ng toward and
re||eves the pressure on a||.


Imp|ement flrsL, LesL second

What we mean and how to use |t: SLu and Lhe 8oard of 8egenLs have openly
acknowledged Lhe noLlon LhaL LesLlng (even on sub[ecL maLLer LhaL sLudenLs
have noL been prepared for) ls a prlorlLy and LhaL lndlvlduals and sysLems wlll
adapL. 1he focus on LesLlng has corrupLed Lhe undersLandlng of Lhe nobler
aspecLs of Lhe Common Core and creaLed valld fears of LesLlng aL Lhe expense of
learnlng. Cur manLra musL be LhaL of Lhe Commlssloner ln hls CcLober 24
Lh
leLLer
ln whlch he sald "1he amounL of LesLlng should be Lhe mlnlmum necessary Lo
lnform effecLlve declslon-maklng." We wou|d go even further and say that
test|ng shou|d be the |ast p|ece of the |mp|ementat|on puzz|e, f|rst comes the
creat|on of qua||ty |mp|ementat|on, then |mproved test|ng mode|s.

Create lmproved, flexlble LesLlng

What we mean and how to use |t: Cne slze does noL flL all when lL comes Lo
LesLlng. As a sLarL, Lhese assessmenLs musL be grounded ln flexlble appllcaLlon Lo
measure Lhe achlevemenL of SLudenL Learnlng Cb[ecLlves (SLC) LhaL acLually wlll
work Lo reduce LesLlng. Cur educaLlonal leaders need Lo hear LhaL LesLs musL be
shorLer and less frequenL, especlally for our elemenLary school sLudenLs ln
grades 3-8, LhaL our mosL challenged sLudenLs requlre LesLlng opLlons, and LhaL
fleld LesLs should be bullL lnLo requlred assessmenLs, and noL added onLo
already burdensome LesLlng schedules. our advocacy shou|d be focused on the
necess|ty of test|ng to he|p educators |earn how to best he|p students - |t must
be more thoughtfu|, |ess frequent, and better su|ted to the |earn|ng ob[ect|ves
we have for |nd|v|dua| groups of students.


Lxpand professlonal developmenL

What we mean and how to use |t: 1he conLlnuous lmprovemenL of lnsLrucLlon ls
wldely supporLed by parenLs, educaLors and admlnlsLraLors, buL lL cannoL be
achleved wlLhouL a fundlng commlLmenL for an array of professlonal
developmenL servlces Lo help educaLors evolve Lhelr pracLlces. We supporL good
professlonal developmenL models for Leachers and admlnlsLraLors, Lhose LhaL
help Lhe evaluaLors 'evaluaLe' and Lhe educaLors Lo meeL collecLlve performance
goals. unforLunaLely, Lhls componenL ls lacklng. Cur |eaders need to hear that
|mp|ementat|on of Common Core w||| be |ess-than-successfu| |f we do not
broad|y support ongo|ng profess|ona| deve|opment efforts to update standards
and pract|ces. In the era of ||m|ted state support and a revenue-restr|ct|ng tax
cap, |oca| d|str|cts cannot shou|der th|s burden a|one. 1he state must comm|t
to he|p|ng Common Core |mp|ementat|on succeed w|th appropr|ate fund|ng to
cont|nuous|y deve|op our educators.