NYSED Commissioner John King: No Retreat, No Surrender, No Quarter On Education Reform Agenda

The NYSED Commissioner does not seem to be chastened in the least by all the criticism of his tenure as head of the State Education Department or calls for his resignation or firing:

Under sustained attack over new standardized tests and learning standards, the New York State education commissioner told an audience on Thursday that “we’re not retreating” and that the constant criticism was damaging an overdue effort to raise student achievement.

“The road to change will always be bumpier for some than for others,” the commissioner, John B. King Jr., said in a speech to officials, educators and public policy students at New York University. “But that’s no reason to stop.

“We teach our children to meet failure and challenge with renewed effort. Adults must do the same.”

...

In his speech, Dr. King, who was booed at Common Core forums around the state over the past year, showed no signs of deviating from his course. “We’re not — not — going backwards,” he said. “We’re not retreating.”

It's interesting how King, and the education reformers who back him, believe teachers who "fail" should be fired and schools that "fail" should be closed but SED Commissioners who "fail" get to go on with "renewed efforts."

Until the politicians who put the Regents in place are made to pay for these policies, until they are made to pay for in effect supporting King by not taking out the Regents who support him and his agenda, nothing is going to change in this state.

There MUST be a political price to be paid by politicians for supporting this agenda.

You take out a couple of legislators in primaries or general elections for supporting the Common Core/Endless Testing agenda and Dr. King and you'll see a change in the policies real fast.

Until then, however, you'll see lip service paid to critics and opponents and not much more.

To be blunt here, John King did a victory lap yesterday and gave the finger to every critic and opponent of his agenda - a big "Screw you! I'll do whatever I want to your kids and their schools and there's nothing you can do to me!"