ASSEMBLYMAN BORELLI ADDRESSES COMMON CORE CONCERNS WITH CONFERENCE APPLE PLAN

            Assemblyman Joe Borelli (R,C,I-SouthShore) today responded to the roll out of Common Core by endorsing the Achieving Pupil Preparedness & Launching Excellence (APPLE) Plan. The APPLE Plan is a reform measure that would slow down the implementation of Common Core and introduce new, comprehensive education reform forNew YorkState. The plan was created after 11 public education forums were held throughout the state, hearing hours of testimony from parents, teachers, administrators and children on the appropriate ways to educate our students.

“The implementation of Common Core represents the major failures in our education department,” said Borelli. “We in the minority conference did our due diligence to give the people ofNew Yorka voice and address their concerns about education and how it should be reformed. The Apple Plan is the first step toward fixing the problems of Common Core and giving our children the education they deserve.”

The APPLE plan solution addresses critical issues in the areas of Curriculum, Teacher Support, Funding, Student Anxiety, Special Education and Data Collection and concludes with two reform options recommended by members of the Assembly Minority Conference. Proposed solutions within the APPLE Plan include:

• Stopping the rushed implementation of the Common Core State Standards;
• Providing funding for professional development;
• Eliminating the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA);
• Reducing the over-reliance on student testing;
• Reasserting that an IEP is the supreme document for the education of a child with special needs; and
• Requiring that parents must consent to any disclosure of student information to a third party.

“We need to put the brakes on Common Core implementation. You only get one chance to educate a child,” said Borelli. “Thanks to Ed Ra and the rest of the minority conference, we finally have a good plan in place for the proper education of our children.”

Borelli’s colleague, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R,C,I-Brooklyn-StatenIsland) is also critical of the implementation of Common Core and believes that the APPLE Plan is a step in the right direction.

“Today’s release of the ‘At the Educational Crossroads’ report is the culmination of several months of hard work by our Republican Assembly Conference to address the multiple problems experienced from the swift implementation of the Common Core curriculum,” said Malliotakis. “With so many students, parents and educators affected by this program, it is absolutely critical that we take action to adjust the system to better meet the needs of our children. With concerns about Common Core being raised acrossNew York, we truly are at a crossroads in terms of education. It is critical that the reforms we have proposed be swiftly enacted because our students only get one chance to receive a quality education.”

The APPLE Plan is available for review online at bit.ly/educationalcrossroads. Borelli encourages people to take a look at the plan and contact his office with any concerns they may have.