Things have gone badly for New York state officials at each of their community forums. Parents and educators have turned out in large numbers, and have overwhelmingly opposed the state’s mandates about Common Core and testing. Frustrated locals have booed and jeered in anger and gotten nothing but bland assurances that the state is listening.
The next meeting on Long Island will be held on November 26 at Eastport-South Manor High School and will be live-streamed.
State officials listen to the outrage but continue to insist that nothing of consequence will change. That makes parents and educators even angrier. Public officials are public servants, and they should not only listen but respond positively to their constituents. They should remember that they were appointed to serve the public, not to coerce them to follow orders.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Students Not Scores has great videos from the NYSED forum at Ward Melville 11/12 on their YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/STUDENTSNOTSCORES?feature=watch) . They also have a great FAQ section on their website (www.studentsnotscores.org) to clear lots of the confusion for parents who don’t understand the issues surrounding Common Core.
The videos are powerful. You are my hero Ali Gordon!
Thank you very much. It was an honor to stand with such powerful women and men that night, all focused on the same goal: protecting our kids.
The state ed dept. schedule says there will be another LI forum on Dec. 9, but doesn’t say where. The North Fork Patch article, though, says the Nov. 26 forum will be the last one on LI. It still seems there are no forums slated for NYC
I am not sure of the schedule for hearings in NY on Common Core, but there is one in Manorville on Nov 26.
But they are no longer public servants and they only pose as having constituents.
That is what totalitarianism is all about. One must be discreet about its introduction in a place like “America” but once in place (and schools are the very best location for this infection) the arrangement is steadfast, at least in its own mind. Hence the mandates that are not moved by the parental outcry. Educated parents of children who are loved and nurtured can’t imagine it has come to this and thank God they are infuriated at the very onset of the realization. But once the fury subsides, social intelligence takes over and the memory of democracy begins to re-ignite. And then…..a new chapter of our history is being written in and out of these meetings.
This obviously not a listening tour. After these two have been pelted with eggs and rotten tomatoes, showered with dead cats and bricks, reported as child abusers and told to resign, they dust off, step up to the cameras and announce “We are firmly committed to the Common Core.” When Ali did it they called it the “rope a dope” but he was The Greatest. These two are the worst and they need to be held accountable for the abandonment of their duties. Their job is to serve not dictate. The only option we have is to go over their heads and threaten the livelihoods of politicians who’ve placed them in this position.
Politicians think they are royalty.
I doubt they are going to listen to the people. It seems the only way to make a change is for large number of kids to refuse to take the tests, and to vote in legislators who agree with the people.
The same thing happened when they were in Rochester – confronted by over 100 parents speaking out about testing and the common core – it all fell on deaf ears!
“Don’t confuse me with the facts. My mind has already been made up”.
How very tragic for children, teachers and indeed our nation.
The people who know what they are talking about, “know the score”, are disregarded. Sadly this is not just in education but through much of the U. S. now. Schools are particularly at risk because the nation’s future depends on ;children being “educated”. We train animals, we educate people – at least that is the way I was brought up. I still believe in that dictum.
The real power(s) that be is(are) not puppet King or diva Tisch. They are simply worm tounges.The real power lies in the traditional branches of government. Maybe a “rigorous,” laser like, deeply considered, albeit ethical focus (do I sound like David Coleman?) on legislative and executive branches would yield another with lord.
Sith Lord