Zeldin Amendment Would Allow New York To Opt Out Of Common Core

New York State could soon be able to roll back Common Core standards that many schools, parents and teachers have derided since they were implemented four years ago—without the fear of losing federal funding.

However, despite the negative feedback and the initial stumbling blocks, most superintendents on the South Fork are continuing to embrace the standards of Common Core, if not the way it was implemented, calling into question the move to repeal it by U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin.

Last week, Mr. Zeldin, a Republican from Shirley who represents the entire East End, introduced an amendment to an educational appropriations bill that would allow individual states, such as New York, to opt out of Common Core standards for K-12 education without losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid.

“When I was in the New York State Legislature, I introduced legislation where New York State would stop the implementation of Common Core, but the biggest criticism we got was that New York would lose federal funding if it did not adopt the standards,” Mr. Zeldin said during a phone interview on Monday. “This amendment simply says that any state that wants to withdraw from Common Core will not be penalized by the federal government as a result.”

Dubbed the “Zeldin Amendment,” the congressman’s proposal is one of 128 amendments made to the Student Success Act, which would fund various primary and secondary education programs from the 2016 fiscal year through the 2021 fiscal year. The bill is being considered by the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, which is, essentially, the entire House of Representatives but with a few different procedures than a simple House vote.

Mr. Zeldin proposed the amendment by himself and it was approved by the House Rules Committee. A vote has not been set on the Student Success Act.

On the campaign trail, during his successful bid to oust incumbent U.S. Representative Tim Bishop of Southampton, Mr. Zeldin, who now represents New York’s 1st Congressional District, frequently expressed his displeasure with Common Core.

When the State Legislature adopted Common Core in 2010, it did so in order to receive $700 million in federal funds for education through the Race To The Top program, which New York would not have qualified for otherwise.

“I believe that the decisions should be made from the state level and the federal government should not be penalizing a state for choosing how it wants to educate its children,” Mr. Zeldin said. “This would make it clear that there is no pot of money the federal government can use to penalize a state if they pursue a different set of standards.”

Even if the amendment passes, the decision about curriculum standards would have to come from Albany. The New York State Education Department declined to say how the passage of this amendment would impact its policy decisions.

“The department does not comment on pending legislation,” State Education Department spokeswoman Jeanne Beattie wrote in an email.

While representatives of local school districts still feel the new standards were forced upon them too quickly, most are not looking for an outright repeal as much as a reining in.

“I don’t necessarily have a problem with the Common Core standards, but I don’t think the implementation has been appropriate,” Southampton School District Superintendent Scott Farina said this week. “How quickly the new assessments were implemented, the change in the proficiency levels in one year—I think that was frustrating.”

Westhampton Beach School District Superintendent Michael Radday said he also thinks the roll-out was handled poorly, adding that he would have preferred that it had been phased in grade by grade rather than in one fell swoop. Still, Mr. Radday said he would not support getting rid of the standards.

“I believe the best course of action would be to continue with the Common Core standards, but to slow the implementation and administration of the new assessments,” he wrote in an email. “To undertake another fundamental change at this point would be counterproductive.”

East Hampton Schools Superintendent Richard Burns said his district remains committed to the Common Core standards, but he would like the State Department of Education to provide more guidance through its Student Learning Objectives program.

“High-quality instruction delivered by well-supported teachers is the best way to achieve meaningful gains in student achievement,” Mr. Burns wrote in an email. “The discussions with teachers about making the shift to Common Core are lively and robust and improve the quality of education our children are receiving.”