It’s heartening that teachers are part of the state’s process of writing the new Empire State Learning Standards to better reflect the knowledge and skills that children should be able to demonstrate at each grade. But so far, we know one thing for sure: There’s still work to do.

In late September, New York released its much-anticipated draft of the state’s new math and English language arts learning standards. State education officials said more than half of the standards were changed. 

But the draft changes do not go far enough. The pacing and timing of the standards for children in the early grades are still not age-appropriate. 

And the standards still do not reflect the vast range of competency levels among English language learners and students with disabilities. Our schools have about 140,000 English language learners who speak more than 160 different languages; the standards do not accommodate their different levels of English-language acquisition. Similarly, students with disabilities have a range of ability that is not reflected in the standards. A one-size-fits-all approach does a disservice to our students. 

To their credit, state officials acknowledge that more work needs to be done to figure out how best to implement the standards for English language learners and students with disabilities.

The UFT supported the recommendations made by the governor’s Common Core task force, which the state Board of Regents accepted earlier this year. And it was a clear victory when the state enacted a four-year moratorium on the use of state test scores in ELA and math for students in grades 3–8 to evaluate teachers and students. 

But the goalposts remain in the distance. We have a lot invested in getting the state’s learning standards on track. It’s necessary to regain the trust of public school families and restore integrity to the standards. 

Our hope is that the State Education Department will step up its work to fix the broken parts of the Common Core.