The Words of CT State Representative John Frey

February 19th:

State Rep. John Frey (R-111 Ridgefield) along with his colleagues in the House Republican Caucus have called for delaying the implementation of Common Core and teacher evaluations until after the public can fully vet the sweeping changes to the state’s education system with a public hearing.

The announcement by Rep. Frey and the House Republicans comes on the heels of the governor’s proposing a delay in linking educator performance ratings and student test scores and creating a working group within the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council to possibly make changes in the implementation in the Common Core State Standards.

“Unfortunately, the governor’s proposal does nothing to give the public or their representatives in the legislature full disclosure or input on these educational standards for our children,” said Rep. Frey. “Instead the task of evaluating the implementation of Common Core is given to an outside advisory board behind closed doors, and the public and lawmakers are left out of the process again.”
In recent weeks, Mr. Frey has met with teachers, parents and school administrators in an attempt to understand and identify their concerns and to ensure the education of Ridgefield students will not suffer but to continue to excel.

“Ridgefield has some of the highest performing schools in the state, with some of the best teachers in the profession who have already proven their ability to produce stellar outcomes,” he said. “I have heard from countless teachers and administrators in both Ridgefield and across the state who say the burden being placed on them to comply with the new performance evaluations and Common Core Standards has taken much of the joy out of their jobs — at no benefit to the students who this overhaul is supposedly all about. We need to take a time-out on Common Core so that we may give the major stakeholders in this reform the input and accountability they deserve.”

Teachers around the state are also concerned they are going to be evaluated based on scores from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, a test that has not been fully evaluated or vetted with Connecticut students before its implementation this fall.

“Many teachers have complained to me that all of these new administrative tasks that are coming with the education reform packages have taken a great deal of joy out of their jobs, without benefiting the students in any noticeable way,” Mr. Frey said.

The group of Republican lawmakers has called on the Education Committee to host a hearing and that all stakeholders — the State Board of Education, educators, parents, and others — should be invited and asked for input.