Last week, board members of the Corning-Painted Post School District voted to step out on its own. Starting next year, the district will no longer be using the state designed curriculum.
Michael Ginalski, Superintendent of the Corning-Painted Post School District, says the roll-out of Common Core was flawed from the beginning.
“What we were trying to do was change the tire on a car while the car was still running with this initiative.”
He says teachers found errors in some of the math modules and that many of the lesson plans weren’t even ready when school started this year.
The teaching modules from the state are optional and the district will still be required to meet the new testing standards.
Ginalski admits that he is stepping out into the dark by breaking with the state’s lesson plans but he is hoping it will make his district stronger.
“I am confident in the end that kids in Corning-Painted Post are going to have curriculum that’s aligned to the new standards.”
And Ginalski may be getting some support from Albany. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is urging a two-year delay before Common Core is used to evaluate teacher or student performance.
“You can’t propose an entirely new curriculum, an entirely new set of standards, and say, here it is, teach to it.”
The state Board of Regents will issue a report soon, and its expected to include changes to the way the standards are being implemented, but not a delay. Members of the legislature have threatened to pass legislation if the Regents don’t go as far as many lawmakers are calling for.
Ginalski says his district will press ahead and start planning out a new curriculum for the next school year.
