State Sen. George Maziarz

A joint session of the New York State Legislature on Tuesday returned three of four members of the state's Board of Regents to their posts.

State Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, and Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-Lewiston, issued a joint press release condemning the re-election of the three.

"When it comes to Common Core reform, the winds of change have been blowing strongly across our great state for many months," the statement said.

"Today, however, the Assembly Democrats turned their backs on the vocal parents, teachers, and supporters who have been demanding better for our students.  For all of their lofty rhetoric about being progressive, the majority of Assembly Democrats gave New York a big serving of the failed status quo.  They robbed the public of our only opportunity to hold the Board of Regents accountable.

"The incumbent Regents have failed the parents and students of New York.  They have not exercised proper control over the State Education Department, Commissioner King, and the roll out and implementation of Common Core.

"For these reasons we did not vote for any incumbent Regents. Rather, we voted in favor of Dr. Walter Polka, a respected leader and reformer in the field of public education who would have been very attentive to the needs of today’s students.  It was our privilege to nominate him from the floor.

"A better process will produce a better outcome.  We will explore a number of ways to change how Regents are selected.  Having Speaker Silver perennially control this process is wrong for New York.

"At the same time, through the legislative process we will continue the fight to achieve much-needed reforms to Common Core, high stakes testing, and other problems facing our classrooms today."

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