Antonia Cortese, CO-CHAIR OF COMMON CORE and SECRETARY-TREASURER OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS (AFT). Overseeing the development of the organization’s education policies, Ms. Cortese chairs the AFT Task Force on No Child Left Behind. Among her professional activities, she serves on the board of the Learning First Alliance, a national coalition of major education organizations. She is also co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition, a member of the Freedom House board of trustees, and a member of the United Way of America board of trustees.

Ms. Cortese was appointed to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Civic Education and Separation of Powers. Previously, she served on the executive committee and as a member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, which develops and administers assessments leading to the certification of accomplished teachers. Ms. Cortese has served as an appointee of the U.S. Department of Education to the National Assessment Governing Board, which is responsible for the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Ms. Cortese has served as an officer of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), an organization that represents more than 575,000 people in New York’s public schools, colleges, universities, and health facilities. She was a vice president of NYSUT’s predecessor, the New York State Teachers’ Association, where she oversaw the union’s bi-weekly newspaper and was responsible for NYSUT’s wide-ranging, nationally respected Division of Research and Educational Services. She also served as a vice president of the New York State AFL-CIO.

A graduate of Utica College of Syracuse University, Ms. Cortese began her education career in her native Rome, New York, as a fourth-grade teacher and school social worker. Her teacher union involvement originated as a building representative for the Rome Teachers’ Association, for which she later served as secretary, vice president, and two terms as president.

Earlier this year, Common Core's report shows a nation STILL AT RISK. Nearly a quarter of students polled could not identify Adolf Hitler and half had no idea what the Renaissance was. To learn more read the report, press release or stories at ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, and USA TODAY. Or take the test yourself.

FROM THE BENCH: "One unintended effect of the No Child Left Behind Act, …, is that it has effectively squeezed out civics education because there is no testing for that anymore and no funding for that. And at least half of the states no longer make the teaching of civics and government a requirement for high school graduation. This leaves a huge gap, and we can't forget that the primary purpose of public schools in America has always been to help produce citizens who have the knowledge and the skills and the values to sustain our republic as a nation, our democratic form of government," former justice Sandra Day O'Connor said. (cont'd)

CAMPAIGN FILE: Sen. John McCain recalls his English teacher: “There was one friendship that enriched my life at Episcopal High School beyond measure... Mr. Ravenel was head of the English Department... He loved English literature, and taught us to love it as well... He made us appreciate how profound were the emotions that animated the characters in Shakespeare's tragedies. MacBeth and Hamlet in his care were as compelling to boys as they were to the most learned scholar.” (cont'd)

CAMPAIGN FILE: Sen. Barack Obama said “One of the problems with No Child Left Behind is that it has become so reliant on a standardized test model that—first of all—subjects like history and social studies have gotten pushed aside. Arts and music time is no longer there. So the child is not having the well-rounded educational experience I benefited from and most in my generation benefited from.” (cont'd)