On April 9, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced changes to the Department of Education’s promotion policy for students in grades 3-8. Instead of having student promotion from one grade to the next be based solely on state exam results, teachers and principals will be able to make decisions about student promotion based on their work during the school year. The proposed policy, which will be voted on by the Panel for Educational Policy, is poised to take effect this school year.

In response, UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued the following statement:

A child is more than a single test score, more than what happens in a few hours of tests on a couple of days out of the school year. It is time that New York City takes into account all the work a child does the rest of the year, in the classroom, where the real learning takes place. Changing the promotion policy is just common sense.