A task force created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is urging major changes to the Common Core learning standards, standardized testing and the teacher evaluation system.

In essence, the report validates cries from teachers and parents that New York's roll out of the learning standards and the state tests aligned to those standards were rushed, without proper training and curriculum materials.  

The task force report makes 21 recommendations. Key among them are creating New York-based learning standards with public input; modifying the standards for early childhood grades so that they are age appropriate; creating standards that provide more flexibility for students with disabilities and English language learners; shortening the duration of state tests; and halting the use of state test scores to evaluate teachers and students until the transition to new standards is complete, likely until the start of the 2019-2020 school year. 

Governor Cuomo called the recommendations important.

"The Common Core was supposed to ensure all of our children had the education they needed to be college and career-ready — but it actually caused confusion and anxiety," Cuomo said in a statement. "That ends now. Today, we will begin to transform our system into one that empowers parents, teachers and local districts and ensures high standards for all students." 

The governor's office said he was reviewing the recommendations. If he accepts them, it would be an about-face from his 2015 budget address, in which he called the teacher evaluation system "baloney" and called for an increase in the use of state tests in those evaluations. 

His proposals led to protests earlier this year, including a dramatic increase in the number of students opting-out of annual standardized tests statewide. 

Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, applauded the task force recommendations, saying the changes may end the "testing obsession" which he considered harmful to schools and teachers.

"In contrast to the state's failed implementation of the Common Core standards, the task force says now is the time to get it right. It calls for the new system to be developed and implemented gradually — and with educator input every step of the way," he said in letter to members. 

And New York State United Teachers President Karen Magee, called the findings a “momentous" development, adding that "New York teachers will be fully engaged in developing New York’s standards.”