Until now, Commissioner John King and the New York Regents have played their Common Core testing show on the road. You might call them out-of-town tryouts.
Now the show is coming to New York City, on short notice.
Next week, parents, educators, and other community members in Brooklyn and Manhattan will have a chance to voice their concerns on December 10 (Brooklyn) and December 11 (Manhattan). The other boroughs will be announced later.
Here is the schedule, courtesy of Class Size Matters.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Bronx is on the same day as Brooklyn on 12/10
Diane,
There’s also an appearance at Evander Child’s H. S. Campus in the Bronx on December 10, 2013 from 6:00 – 8:00. According to what I read, there are 2 forums, one in Brooklyn and another in the Bronx on 12/10/13. Is this what you know as well?
Roberta Reid,
I have heard that there is a meeting in the Bronx, but not the details. The state is holding two meetings simultaneously in two different boroughs. King will be in Brooklyn, Tisch in the Bronx. Waiting for more information.
trouble opening schedule. The tight scheduling should be a way to divide the participants. They don’t want the entire City at any one forum.
I will post the NYC schedule again.
The Brooklyn meeting is Dec 10 at Medger Evers College, 1650 Bedford Avenue, from 5-7 pm.
The Manhattan meeting is Dec 11 at Spruce Street School, 12 Spruce Street, 5-7 pm.
Getting into these events may be like the rush on Black Friday with parents camping out. wondering about the capacity of the Spruce Street School. Can we get a feed to an outdoor monitor?
These need to be taped professionally as was done at the Mineola HS hearings on Long Island with Senator Martins.
Roberta,
Your information is corrected. Please share with parents
I watched one of the meetings (the one that was posted here) and they’re interesting from a mediation/negotiation perspective. I’m a small town lawyer and we do a lot of mediations on all kinds of disputes.
One of the requirements for a productive mediation or negotiation is that the person or persons making decisions or driving an agenda be at the table. This sounds obvious, but it’s really not.
There’s even a term for it in mediation- “shadow people”. A shadow person is a person who is (ostensibly) not involved in decision-making or holding a “position” in the negotiation, but is actually driving the dispute because they are influencing the person at the table.
It’s common sense that you can’t reach an agreement or a compromise if you’re talking to the wrong people, so before the mediation one has to determine who is influencing a party and get THAT person to join the mediation. So, in a contract dispute with a small business, for example, if one spouse is the title owner but the other spouse actually makes all the decisions, you would need the other spouse also at the table or you’re wasting your time.
The meeting w/Tisch and King and public school parents didn’t seem productive to me, and I was wondering if that’s because these folks aren’t at the meetings:
“The Albany Times Union calls it a “shadow government” within the New York State Education Department. It is supported by $19 million in donations from wealthy individuals and foundations. The “Regents Research Fund” fellows are a private think tank embedded in the public education department that is defining education for New York’s 3.1 million public school students. They frame policy, consult regularly with State Education Commissioner John King, and interact with state employees and officials, but they are not covered by the state’s Public Officer’s Law or ethics rules.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/new-yorks-secret-educatio_b_4368282.html
I addressed this issue in a letter re: the Mineola HS hearings to Senator Martins. The elephant in the room are the publisher$ and $oftware providers.
Chiara, that makes so much sense.
King is just a puppet. Now, who is pulling the strings? Is it Cuomo? I wonder if King knows that he is expendable. The puppet master will cut his strings as soon as they have sucked him dry (and taken any dignity he might have once had). He’s already lost his integrity. If he wasn’t doing so much damage, I’d feel sorry for him.
I can’t publicly use the appropriate language to describe Tisch. Sorry.
I was going to ask what they hope to accomplish with these meetings. There doesn’t seem to be any agenda other than “listening.”
I wish I could be at either of the meetings because New Yorkers know how to take care of business. I hope the new mayor attends at least one of the meetings.
I can’t believe what is happening in this country. It’s happening here in Dallas, too. This “cancer” crew has moved in and is just destroying the little good that exists while ignoring the true problems.
I literally see no difference between any of these pro-testing, pro-reform fanatics and religious lunatics who will kill other human beings in the name of their religion. All of them think they are justified and chosen to lead.
After the meetings, King will get back in his car and tell himself that converting people to
“the truth” is hard. Not once will he question his version of the truth.
They might as well place a life-size “Kommissioner King” bobble-head in his chair and hang a sign from his table that reads, “Change is hard, this is not the time for delay.”
For those of you that are in attendance try to remeber his ventriloquist is up in Albany, and you can barely notice his lips moving.
VOTE KING’S PUPPET MASTER OUT OF OFFICE – NOV 2014.
In Jamestown, a rural community in Western New York (where Lucille Ball grew up), King had a meeting and people can from miles around to attend. Some drove over 100 miles to be there. It wasn’t a small rural audience he faced, it was angry parents, teachers, and administrators from all over who wanted their say. Wait until he gets closer to Buffalo. You think they’re angry in NYC, those “coddling” suburban parents are on the war path. Beware their wrath.
Please vent your anger at the voting booth next November.
A vote for Cuomo is a vote for Common Core testing!!!
There will be no significant policy changes until Cuomo’s political cage is rattled. If his poll numbers stay steady, we’re just spitting into a gale force wind.
Commissioner King is one sneaky fox !! On December 11th, 2013, parents will have difficulties in attending the forum because it is parent teacher conference for High School. Was this his plan??? To avoid a massive crowd of angry parents, teachers, and administrators. King should reschedule his forum and have consideration and respect to parents, teachers and etc. Commissioner King is making a mockery out of NYC parents!!
Let ‘s see what “the NYC Mommies” do with these meetings!
ERROR ALERT!! I apologize for the misinformation. Report cards are being distributed and believed it was also Parent Teacher Conference. My sincere apologies!!!!!
Chiara your post is very interesting. Many of us have been trying to figure out what these forums really are. They are not informative, the questions posed are never answered and at the end of the forum John King always says “nothing will change”. It’s not really a mediation because it has already been made clear that King and Tisch will not budge. Why do they continue to have these forums? Does anybody know? To quote you Chiara, “One of the requirements for a productive mediation or negotiation is that the person or persons making decisions or driving an agenda be at the table.” The problem is that there is NOBODY at the table. As another person posted, they may as well put 2 bobble heads up there. I just don’t get it. Does anybody get why they keep showing up to be told the same thing by different groups of people again and again when they have preceded their visit with clear statements that they will not listen? It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen and must be unprecedented at least in New York. It’s the rejection tour. We reject them and they reject us and it’s all fully documented. Meanwhile our kids are getting hurt every day.
King might simply be a walking, talking, trial balloon sent up by the governor. The equivalent of sticking a wet finger into the political wind.
These meetings have been an insult to all in attendance; really quite the farce.