Zephyr Teachout blasts New York’s and Cuomo’s support of Common Core

The Fordham law professor who is challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic ticket outlines her concerns about Common Core, and education plan for New York.

In 2008 Microsoft founder Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men, decided that he should take charge of education policy. He promoted a single set of standards to measure our children’s achievements in school. Since then Gates has spent more than $200 million to advance this idea, called the “Common Core.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo, since taking office in early 2011, has supported the use of Common Core in New York schools.

The idea of a shared, high standard sounds appealing. But in practice what Common Core means is that students and teachers are subject to a grueling regime of tests that the citizens and families of our state never really had the chance to discuss. In the words of education historian Diane Ravitch, the imposition of Bill Gates’ Common Core has been “the closest thing to an educational coup in the history of the United States.”…..To Read More…..