FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 CONTACT: Jessica Proud (914) 438-5325

Statement from County Executive Astorino on Pearson Firing

July 10, 2015

"Switching companies to administer Common Core testing is tantamount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Our children are still being faced with an untested experiment whose standards, some renowned education experts say, are of "poor quality." But it also begs the question: why did Governor Cuomo have so much faith in Pearson three years ago? If Pearson is bad enough to fire, why were they good enough to hand to our kids in the first place? The Governor very clearly demonstrated his support for Pearson, including when he appointed David Wakelyn Deputy Secretary for Education, a former policy maker for a leading Pearson sub-division. When will the Governor admit what thousands of parents and teachers already know: Common Core has been a disastrous failure and needs to be replaced with better standards, developed by New York educators with input from local teachers and parents."

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