Members of New York State United Teachers Union are urging Republican state senators to back legislation that would no longer tie teacher evaluations to students’ scores on standardized tests.

That policy was put in place several years ago in an effort to adopt Common Core standards.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has distanced himself from the policy and the state Assembly overwhelmingly passed a bill to get rid of the requirement.

Members of the union plan to hold rallies Friday outside the offices of Senate Republicans in hopes of getting Senate Leader John Flanagan to bring the bill to a vote.

“Teachers are never in favor of high-stakes testing,” says Joseph Romano, of Salk Middle School. “Teachers are never in favor of putting pressure on the kids. We see the looks on their faces. We see when they're overwhelmed. We see the pressure that they feel, because they know that the evaluations are tied."

The teachers union is hoping lawmakers will vote on the measure before the Legislature breaks for the summer on June 20. News 12 calls to Senate Leader John Flanagan have not been returned.