Educators of New York state. Make time to attend a meeting of the Cuomo Commission. As reported here, the meetings in New York City and Buffalo were stacked with charter school advocates, TFA, and StudentsFirst. But as principal Carol Burris notes below, it is important that you are there. Sign up to speak. Who knows, you might be called to testify. Be there to witness. The future of the education profession and public education in New York is on the table.
Carol Burris writes:
Please attend future hearings. Although they provide the opportunity to testify, I cannot tell you based on my experience, that the selection process is fair. I can tell you, however, it is worth the try AND it is worth being present. Even if you do not speak, be there. If you are allowed to testify, speak up for the profession that means so much to you and to the schools that mean so much to your children.Here is the schedule
- Wednesday, August 8, 2012:
Regional Meeting (Southern Tier)- Tuesday, August 14, 2012:
Regional Meeting (Central NY)- Tuesday, August 28, 2012:
Regional Meeting (North Country)- Monday, September 10, 2012:
Regional Meeting (Mid-Hudson)
- Monday, September 24, 2012:
Regional Meeting (Mohawk Valley)- Thursday, October 11, 2012:
Regional Meeting (Long Island)- Monday, October 22, 2012:
Regional Meeting (Finger Lakes)
Diane Ravitch's blog 
People still need to find a way to be seen if not heard. This was left on The
Answer Sheet article as a comment:
Back in the Gingrich era, I saw Representative Pombo (CA) and Representative Chenowith (ID), use exactly the same ploy in southern California to garner support for gutting the Endangered Species Act: They cut funding until the compliance agency was completely hamstrung. Then, they declared there was a “crisis” and hosted a series of “public meetings” to address the problem. Of course all the speakers were hand-picked property owners (who were irate because of slow permit approval times), and other conservatives who all criticized the law and called for a weakening of the ESA. No public
input was allowed, and we environmentalists only knew it was happening because of leaked info.
One useful tactic: since they wouldn’t let us speak, we all brought in red construction paper and held them up in unison whenever they said something we objected to.
LikeLike
Interesting to note most of these meetings are on school days and during school hours when parents are working, teachers are teaching and students are learning. I wonder who can attend? They are either 10-1 or 1-4.
LikeLike
Diane,
I suppose people like Campbell Brown got invites. I am curious, did you get one also?
This so reminds me when they were having the 2nd round of hearings on mayoral control. These meetings weren’t well-publicized, even union reps didn’t know about it (which in itself is telling) to pass it along to teachers in their schools and get them to mobilize. Even last year’s SOS Save Our Schools March on Washington wasn’t advertised. I was lucky enough to hook up with teachers from GEM and finally got to meet the amazing Julie Cavanagh as well as hear those amazing speeches.
If it wasn’t for the new movement against testing by parents that is finally making headway in of all places Texas, Duncan would not be an issue. I am still shocked that NYS is not leading this cause. But in a way am glad it is the home of NCLB that is.
There was a time when NYC teachers would have come out in droves to protest mayoral control and the Cuomo commission, but somehow the only “control” is over the teachers.
LikeLike
I did not get an invitation to testify.
LikeLike
I could go to the Long Island meeting if I didn’t have school that day. Mayor Cuomo does a great job of keeping working teachers from testifying.
LikeLike