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"At the end of the day, the changes we are making will help all students graduate prepared for success in college and careers.

"NYSUT has been a strong supporter of the Common Core Standards and rigorous assessments of college and career readiness. That’s the right direction - it is imperative that we get implementation right. That's why we continue to provide extensive resources and support for teachers.

"We've gone to great lengths to account for the increased difficulty of this year's assessments in teachers' growth scores -- part of the multiple measures evaluation system the statewide teachers' union helped to craft -- so that teachers are not penalized. And we’ve asked districts to be thoughtful in their use of the data from this first year of Common Core assessments when evaluating teacher performance. ÌýWe have every confidence that they will be.

"Our goal is to build an accurate measure of where students are on the ladder to career and college readiness and to focus instruction to help them climb that ladder.Ìý Our students are already accountable for the Common Core, but too many of our high school graduates don't find this out until they have to take remedial classes in college or they enter the job market without marketable skills.

"It's time for all of us to be accountable for providing students with the skills they need for college and career success. I look forward to working with NYSUT and all its members as we move forward to help all our students build a brighter future."