Let me just say that we at the a. F. T. Are big supporters of the common core not to be implemented in a straitjacket kind of way, but we are more aligned to Critical Thinking and applying knowledge, which is what kids need to do and know how to do for the middle class jobs of this century and the next well i will not talking about the next center, but the rest of the century. We became a big believer and how you have these have these kinds of standards. This is why the is such a bumpy rollout. You cannot just get on a podium and say that out shall have standards. Thou shalt have standards. Or get on a podium and do with the government did, and spend on testing solutions, and yet there was no attempt to figure out how to create an appropriation for the building of professional development and curriculum and the things that are absolutely essential to do this transition. So that is why there has been such a bumpy road because there has been this race to a standard rather than a publication thoughtful implementation. People are surprised by this, the fact that john engler and myself wrote a letter in november to every single governor who was adopting the common core, and saying it is important, but were to do it right. We should trust stages, give them the time in the professional development and the curriculum support to do this right before you do this kind of testing. When you have the head of the is Business Roundtable and the head of the National Union saying stop, do this right because really knew we really get it, i would hope that some people would listen and stop with the race to announce and actually do a reflective and limitations so that we actually implement it with fidelity to give kids the skills and knowledge they need. Randi, im sure, as you know, it is toxic in states all across the country. And what is it going to implement the standards effectively . And can you assess whether or not theyre going to work . Number one, i think we need delink the testing from these standards. Lets look at the countries that outcompete us. None of them test every kid every year. They do not do that. They do not lead with a testing fixation, they lead with a whole child and learning fixation. Before we even get into that debate what i mean by the moratorium, or the pause on testing or the fixation on testing is that if you think they are really important, you have to give teachers the time to actually lament them to try them actually give teachers the time to implement them, to try them, to work with them. Help parents understand that this is not an attempt to hurt kids as some parents really think right now, but it is an attempt to actually transition our Education System to one that is more robust for all kids. To transition our public systems to what the private schools all the time, experiential learning and projectbased instruction. The moment you delink this standardized testing from the rollout of common core, you immediately stop the anxiety about what is going to be on the test, and you actually shift all of that energy to how do we actually do this right . That is why i am very i put california in very high esteem, and im very disappointed in my own state commissioner because what california did was understood this and passed a law that said we are going to dealing delink the test, and give an appropriation for implementing this. Then were going to field test, and see if the whole system works before we create consequences. That is what other states should do, but new york got it dreadfully wrong, as those of the that should be a really important good thing that evil should be incited about that that people should be excited about is now something that is hugely controversial. Following on caitlins question to you caused a moratorium, attaching consequences to standardized testing while, gore gets up and running. What would be a timetable that you would be held to the standing . Standards . It is not so much an actual timetable, because some places you can see the transition taking a year, and some places where it will take 10 years. My point is, the moment that you start this transition in a thoughtful way, kids will succeed. Im not suggesting that we do not have accountability, but think about the performance based assessment but think about portfolio scores. When you see kids actually being able to thoughtfully describe what they are doing, that is real education. You cannot tell me in the 21st century we cannot come up with a more complex or a more thoughtful accountability system around the kind of schools that you want kids to skills that you want kids to know i didnt understand to know and understand. Going back to things like peer intervention. This is not an either or issue, this is having fullblown mentation having a thoughtful implementation and thinking about other ways of measuring school success. You, yourself, say that we need to have the standards, and that something needs to change. We saw this recently this week, looking at testing data, showing small but steady gains. The urban School District data this week showed that there has been problem some progress but it is still wildly uneven gains and huge achievement gaps. The education secretary said it painted a picture of stagnation. What are these results say about the state of education right now . Does it look bleak to you, or are you optimistic . What all of this is saying is that the dominant strategy that we have used for decades is not the strategy that is going to kick the door open to help all children succeed. It is just like the strategies that we used in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1960s you actually saw a hugely bigger gain than the 1970s on the 1980s and the 1990s. Giving the kids the more level playing field. In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and now, we did not first we did a bunch of nice programs, which helped some and not all kids. In the last 10 years, with no child left behind, what we have done is we have said that testing is going to be the dominant strategy. The countries that outcompete us do not use that. What they do instead is that they actually focus on ensuring that kids get really good teachers and really good teaching, and have a real focus on equity as well. The reason i say im optimistic its because i think there is a growing recognition that you cannot test your way to tremendous gains in Public Education in the united states. You cannot sanction your way to tremendous gains in united states. You have to actually do what massachusetts has done in the united states, what the Performance Consortium schools in new york city have done, what the schools in connecticut but i just spent the week looking at have done. What finland, germany, and others have done is following the teachers were giving them the time and the tools to do the crap that we have asked them to do. Supporting them through that, and also supporting the craft we have asked them to do. Tutoring, and remediation and enrichment, and things like are in an music art and music. When things like that are wrapped up with the core, standard, you see these huge progression like you saw in germany and finland, and even estonia and latvia, vietnam, singapore. That is why i am optimistic. There is a blueprint here. We just have to decide that that blueprint is more important than still thinking that Market Strategies are going to work when they actually havent. Following up on that, d. C. Was one of the first to shining stars on this yearss National Assessment on Education Progress the nations report card. A few years ago, ec was 20 and severest washington d. C. Was putting in some new reforms, and they clash over teacher of automation. I would wonder how you would view d. C. s reforms in terms of their recent progress . This is what when you asked the question like that, and the dominant d. C. Reform for fourthgraders is not what happened with a valuation or with any of the things that we did. The dominant piece was what the mayor himself did when he was 80 Council President city Council President which was that this was the first group of fourthgraders that actually had prekindergarten. It is one of the most important investments you can make if you want to see progress for all kids. It is what i take from the d. C. Example. There are a lot of other states and cities that did exactly what michelle was suggesting in terms of the evaluation that did not do very well. When you look at the other pieces in terms of d. C. , what youre seeing is that the Northwest Quadrant of d. C. , they are doing well. The fact that d. C. Is becoming more and more middle class for youre seeing that reflected. What i see in the statistics is that you actually do have to do more to mitigate hoppity, and not less democracy. We have 10 minutes left, go ahead kaitlyn. I would ask about you and you as a union leader. People who follow you on twitter know that you are prolific and social media, you enjoyed engaging your critics and talking with people. If you enjoy engaging with people who follow you, in general. How do you see the role of the union leader evolving in the 21st century . What are your most effective tactics . Someone else will judge tactics, but the most important thing we can do is reclaim our values as americans. Both economically, in terms of the american dream, and in in terms of Public Education reclaim the public reclaim the promise of Public Education. Even though we are doing better than we have ever done about a unless we help all kids fulfill their potential, we are never going to be satisfied. Not as it was today, not as it was 150 years ago, but as it means for us to fulfill our collective responsibility for individual opportunity for kids. So if you see the world like i do, which is that we have to really recreate paths for the middle class to get to great jobs and great housing and retirement, the people who actually work teachers, paraprofessionals, nurses, you see a clear road for the union. The union is about chanting those values of economic opportunity, of educational opportunity. Making sure that the work we do is the best he can be, Great Solutions i can make that work better. That we join with communities, parents, clergy, Small Businesses want to actually create credibility for public schools. We are championing great neighborhood public schools, communities that have great Job Opportunities about we are actually making sure that the jobs of today and tomorrow are filled by people in communities. You have clear career ladders so that people can become assistant teachers and then climbed to regular teacher. I see the union being solution driven, i see the solution the union as engaging our members in this quest to make the school the communities better, and that we cannot do it alone. We have to work with parents, we have to work with communities, and so that is really important as well. That is why it is pretty democratized, and so you have to engage, and i love the engagement to custody engagement means that people have have people feel like they have power. Even if there are critics, i want their voices to be heard. We have to be a big tent. Thats why i do that kind of engagement. I was in connecticut for a full day, being with almost every single educator in the district, and talking to kids and parents and really seeing what they were doing. What theyre doing together collaboratively is not just changing societies, they are changing societies, they are changing the future for the kids. Kids love school. They are going. They have enrichment, art, music, and theyre doing better as a School District, working together. I have another question about leadership. Let me also say, on december 9, the day where we reclaim the reclaim to the promise of Public Education, i do not think that people have ever seen a day where there were 100 events coordinated to be a problem location day. That is what i mean by bringing communities together. Actually really focusing on a vision of helping all kids get a great education. Sorry. No problem. This is a question about the deputys leadership. He had a lot of leverage in the beginning, with billions of dollars and now that that has gone, has sort of the shine coming off of the secretary . Im not going to grade the secretary of education, because that what i will do the i like him, i think his heart is in the right place. I think that the strategy of the administration from the beginning was wrong. I was very, very, very grateful that they understood that the stimulus was absolutely essential in order to back fill for the huge budget cuts that were happening while we were in the woods worst recession since the great depression. We lost over 10 of the education force 300,000 teachers, that were laid off, or lost during the recession. We needed to have that kind of back stock because you do not want to lose a generation of children because of the recession, and because of a result, education was not a priority. But that race to the top, and to tell the world that within three and a half nanoseconds every thing was going to change in terms of the american education, that was the mistake. Because the countries of the world that outcompete us, they know it takes time to actually make this work so that we are helping all kids succeed. Finland did not do it in three minutes, singapore did not do in three minutes, shanghai do not do in three minutes, so that when you suggest to the countries that all you need to do is change a couple of laws in a state capital of a or Just Announced that you are adopting a new System People of expectation that in this if it is not done into nanoseconds, it is failing. Instead of figuring out how to have an enriched curriculum, have art and music, how do have experiential learning, i think that has been the problem for the administration right now, because the expectation and what has happened in fact do not meet up with each other. One more question. You are in new york right now, they are in the midst of picking a new schools chancellor. What candidate do you like . The bottom line is that that we need a chancellor that bill de blasio is comfortable with. That knows education class that knows new york and the politics of new york, and most important can repair a School System that has huge assets, but has been totally and completely demolished because of the fixation on testing and sanctions and data as opposed to a fixation on how we help all kids achieve. Valuing the educators who are trained to do that. So it is going to be a big job but i have a lot of faith in him, since he knows the city, and he ran as a parent who has been committed to public schooling, and someone who can take one of the jewels of the united states, the new york city public Education System, and really bring it into the next century in a way that will really help all kids succeed. You do not have a particular name you want to throughout there . If i threw out a name, then it would be a shooin that that person would never be chancellor. Let me sneak this question in, we have talked about the administration, but lets talk about, congress, and look forward to the deck and ha to the second half of this congress. What tops your agenda . I think what patty murray did with paul ryan to actually help us stop lurching from crisis to crisis was really important, and i think they should both get props for that. It was not a perfect deal, but that budget deal is really important to mitigate some of the pain of the sequester that actually has heard hurt the ability to do prek education. I thought that was a really good first step. Trying to do some work on career tech ed because that is something you can see some Common Ground from the real focus on the ptech school in new york city. What ibm, and what the city college of new york are doing, you see those kind of career and places ed places. There will be an attempt to did the renewal of the not sure what will happen with that. Lets think about a new direction in the Public Education that is missing on how that is focusing on how to kid succeed. How to become critical thinkers and innovators. If we can actually direct and come up with that new direction in education, the skills like it needs that kids needs, so that we are helping in the areas of those with the least, we can then look back at this time, even the 2014 congress, and say we did something to help the world. Randi weingarten, thank you for being our newsmaker. A little round up conversation. Common core where does it stand . Right now, every state has adopted the common core standards except for just four of them. A number of states are starting to waver in different ways on their commitment to those standards. We have not seen anybody un adopt the standards, but a number of them are sort of slowing down implementation of them, or changing the environment their involvement in these contortions that are crafting assessments to go with the standards. And its been a very bumpy rollout, and ms. Weingarten has said we should not have standard tests until we really know were doing with the standards. A number of critics say that that all undermines the effort. Is the administration feeling the pressure from the union on this . I would think so, but i would also think that they are feeling a lot of pressure from everywhere on the common core standards very as we talked about, it has become very toxic. We have governors all across the country that are seeing this as a federal intrusion into state education matters. They were founded by states, they are led by states, but there is still the perception out there that because the administration wants it, the they are somehow driving it. A lot of governors are saying we just dont want a part in it. A lot of states have renamed the common core standards to reflect the bear their own standards. As the, labeled it has become a label, a byproduct of the administration that people are cautious about. Is their federal money tied to it . About 360 million to develop the assessments, to go along with the standards, state and other folks are kicking in money on that effort, too. It is not so much that the standards were developed by the feds, the federal government made adoption of Higher College and career standards a decision of the states. Cri