As Ranking Minority Member of the Assembly Education Committee, Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) joined members of the Assembly and Senate Education and Higher Education committees in interviewing the prospective candidates for the state Board of Regents this week. Ra, who is the sponsor of the APPLE Plan to reform our education system and hosted 11 statewide educational forums, utilized the opportunity to question the potential appointees on the hot-button issues facing education: Common Core, teacher evaluations, student data-usage by third parties, and high-stakes standardized testing.

“The Board of Regents plays a vital role in charting the course of education in our state,” said Ra. “Common Core and high-stakes testing are just a few of the controversial mandates implemented by the board in the past, and any new appointee must be prepared to not only deal with the fallout left in Common Core’s wake but have solutions comparable to those laid out in my APPLE Plan, ready to ensure educators can provide our children with the top-notch education they deserve.”

For more information on Assemblyman Ra’s forums and the APPLE Plan, please visit bit.ly/educationalcrossroads and bit.ly/APPLEplan.