It’s time to uphold our standards on education

For generations, urban communities have faced challenges that have tipped the scales against them. Through hard work and grit, exemplary youth have broken past the barriers set against them – low expectations, low scores and low hope.

Higher learning standards and quality academic assessments have opened a door of opportunity for our students, no matter where they grow up or go to school. We’ve been able to tell our kids they can achieve anything they dream, and they will have the education to get them there.

A quality education and higher learning standards alone don't create opportunity, but they do play an important role alongside overarching factors like economic conditions and safe, thriving communities. And since their implementation, standards and quality assessments have had a clear positive impact, through deeper learning, higher test scores, significantly improved graduation rates and a fairer shot at success for children no matter where they grow up.

But the Common Core standards and assessments in place in New York were rolled out quickly and without enough teacher and parent input and preparation, and that led to pushback and calls for change, particularly in suburban communities.

Well, education leaders in our state listened, and rolled out a draft set of updated standards that relied on teachers and parents to make the changes. Where information needed to be clarified, they took action and made it easier to understand. Where information needed to be streamlined, they modified and combined standards. And where there was a need to bring more balance to the standards, like adding back more fiction in reading, they did so.

Now, it's time to put this debate behind us and get on with the business of better educating all children in our state.

Because remember, in the years before standards were in place, the education system failed our urban communities and our kids were left behind. In 2011, before Common Core standards were implemented, just 18 percent of African American and 20 percent of Hispanic 8th grade students in New York scored at proficient levels on national English and Language Arts tests.

That’s starting to change. The numbers clearly show that since Common Core standards have been in place, scores have been on the rise. This past year, there were impressive gains on ELA proficiency – 26.2 percent for African-American students and 26.8 percent for Hispanic students on New York's new tests, which are rated as even more honest and rigorous than the national tests.

The urban centers of New York City, Rochester and Buffalo have seen steady improvement year after year in both ELA and math scores, setting them on the path toward greater educational equity. More important, our children have the same expectations, are taught to the same standards and take the same assessments to measure their progress as children in suburban communities.

Quality standards and assessments shine a light on inequalities in educational opportunity and achievement gaps. As the only measure we have to compare students across the state, they are critical to leveling the educational playing field.

Opponents of New York’s learning standards have demonstrated that they will never be satisfied as long as the current standards remain. Despite the updates by teachers and parents, leading to the changing of 60 percent of English and 55 percent of math standards – including many of the changes they specifically asked for – the voices against high standards and quality assessments remain. These opponents would still rather turn back to the old days of forgetting our communities, and telling the children of urban areas that they should settle for less.

The Board of Regents needs to support improvements and join us in moving forward. We cannot have the rug pulled out from the hard work and dedication of teachers, students and communities that is finally starting to bring progress to children across New York.

Arva Rice is the CEO of the New York Urban League; William Clark is the executive director of the Rochester Urban League; and Brenda McDuffie is the president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League; are all members of High Achievement New York, a coalition of teachers, educators, parents, civic and business leaders working to support high standards and quality assessments to ensure that all students receive a first-rate education.