The Offical Website of the PJSTA

Posted on October 24, 2013 by thepjsta

The Race for the 2nd Assembly Seat

Typically elections for the New York State Legislature are held in even numbered years. However this year there will be a special vote held for New York State’s 2nd Assembly District on election day. Former Assemblyman Dan Losquadro stepped down earlier this year to become the Brookhaven Superintendent of Highways, leaving the 2nd Assembly District without representation in the New York State Assembly. That will change following Election Day when residents of the 2nd Assembly District will vote for either John McManmon or Anthony Palumbo.

Like many of our PJSTA members, I am a resident of the 2nd Assembly District, which begins just to the east of Comsewogue and extends out through the North Fork. With the current education climate being what it is and knowing the importance of the state legislature’s role in it, I decided to reach out to each of the candidates to see where they stood on education issues. I made it clear that as a voter my decision of who to vote for would be made based on their stances on education.

Mr. McManmon, who grew up in Riverhead and currently resides in Aquebogue, responded with the following (emphasis mine)…

As you know, implementation of the Common Core in New York has been deeply flawed. I was profoundly disappointed that Commissioner King cancelled community meetings to discuss this issue and am pleased that some have been rescheduled. I have asked Commissioner King specifically to hold at least one public meeting on Eastern Long Island.

My concern about the Common Core stems from my belief that our children’s education is essential to their success in a global economy. To that end, I have called for comprehensive reform of the Common Core in New York State, including (1) reduction in high-stakes testing, which is particularly inappropriate for younger students and their teachers, (2) de-coupling of test scores from teacher, student and school evaluation, (3) limited the data collection and dissemination by private entities and (4) rethinking from the ground-up (not top-down) how best to implement the Common Core, if at all.

Education is very close to my heart. In my immediate family are public school teachers who face many of the issues you describe below. In my pro bono legal practice, I represent families of autistic children seeking the best possible education in our school system.

Our children’s education is, quite literally, our future. In the Assembly, I will be an staunch advocate for education reform and a loud voice for the dedicated parents seeking to provide their children with the skills to succeed in the 21st century.

Mr. Palumbo, who grew up in Patchogue and currently resides in New Suffolk, responded with this…

As your Assemblyman, I will be an unrelenting advocate for our children and our education system. Though we pay among the highest taxes in the state and nation, the majority of state education aid continues to be funneled into New York City. We simply do not receive our fair share. As your Assemblyman I will advocate not only for an increase in education aid for our communities, but for a complete restructuring of the formula by which state aid is calculated.

I also believe more must be done to help school districts, students and parents come to terms with the Common Core curriculum and I think all options should be left open. One proposal put forward in the Assembly is to review the Common Core and evaluate the program’s strengths and weaknesses. I believe this could be a positive step—if it takes into account the input of parents, teachers and administrators. Another proposal put forward would be to opt out of the Common Core curriculum entirely. While there are some merits to this position, that decision ultimately lies with the State Board of Regents.

In the meantime, I believe the state can be doing more to ease the transition. This program is yet another unfunded mandate by Albany, but I feel that if the state is going to require it, they should pay for it. I will strongly advocate for state government picking up the cost of testing, the cost to implement the program and the cost of training teachers, should the Common Core system continue.

I heard better things from both candidates than I was honestly expecting. I was particularly impressed with Mr. McManmon’s ideas of reducing standardized tests, de-coupling of test scores from teacher evaluations, and re-thinking “from the ground-up (not top-down) how to implement the Common Core, if at all.” Of course talk is cheap without action behind it. I thank both of these gentleman for taking the time out of their busy schedules to answer my concerns regarding public education. One thing is for certain. If the winner of this election goes on to make their support of public education a priority throughout their first year in office, they will receive significant support from the PJSTA as they seek re-election next fall.

If you want to find out what assembly district you live in click here.

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Posted on October 22, 2013 by thepjsta

The Latest on the John King Fiasco

Puppet master Merryl Tisch and her puppet John King.

Last week New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch announced that NYSED would be hosting 16 forums around the state (though none in NYC where 1/3 of the state’s students reside) in the coming weeks. This follows John King’s cowardly act from a couple of weeks ago. Tisch said they will “modify the template of how those conversations were going to take place” when hosting the forums. Generally speaking that is code for, “We will not let parents and teachers speak unless they say what we want them to.” In response to the multitude of calls for King’s resignation, Tisch asked the public to “tamp down the rhetoric” lay off of her puppet, King.

In one of the most laughable details of all, at least one of the forums will be by invitation only! The way Tisch and King have bungled this has become downright mind boggling. If they think the public is going to be placated by “invitation only” forums then they are more out of touch with reality than I had previously realized.

The Tisch/Cuomo/King tag team will stop at nothing to jam their agenda down the throats of New York State’s citizens. No action too egregious for them. Next November Cuomo, and the state legislators who enable him (such as John Flanagan), are up for re-election. Vote them all out.

November 1st- Save the Date!

On Friday, November 1st the PJSTA will be holding informational picketing outside the Smithtown office of Senator John Flanagan. Picketing will start at 3:30 pm.

Senator Flanagan, an ally of NYSED Commissioner John King, is one of two state senators who represents parts of the Comsewogue School District. Additionally he chairs the New York State Senate’s Committee on Education. He has been hosting hearings around the state on the effectiveness of New York State’s education reforms. The hearings, naturally, have been by invite only. Senator Flanagan makes sure he invites a representative from NYSED to every hearing. He has not invited a representative from Comsewogue. This picket will be an opportunity to make him hear us, whether he wants to or not. Tell him that we demand to be heard from. Tell him to stop hanging out with John King! Tell him to stop taking money from Michelle Rhee’s Students First! Tell him to stop taking his marching orders from ALEC and to start putting the people he represents first!

NYSED Commissioner John King and Senator Flanagan

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Posted on October 16, 2013 by thepjsta

What are Pols Saying About NYSED’s King?

A few state legislators have begun to weigh in on John King’s cowardly acts from last week.

State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk writes…

Dear Dr. King,

I was greatly saddened to read about your decision to suspend four planned PTA-sponsored Town Hall Meetings on the Common Core.Common Core and the standardized testing mandates we’ve placed on our schools, teachers and students are among the most significant challenges ever faced by our public education system. They deserve a full airing, and those involved — parents, students and teachers in every part of the state — must have the opportunity to be a part of the process and to have their concerns addressed.One of the recurring complaints on common core and testing is that parents and teachers were not brought in to the planning process. To now refuse to hold future meetings would only reinforce the perception that State Education Department is forcing the curriculum without proper planning and public input.I think the Friday night meeting in Poughkeepsie can be taken as a teachable moment. I am certain that the Town Hall events can be structured in such a way that they provide for a useful give and take, and I strongly urge you to restore these community meetings. Further I am hopeful that you will attend an education forum I am hosting with other State Legislators on October 22, at Kingston High School from 5 pm to 7 pm.Your attendance would help assuage the frustrations, fears and concerns of the parents, teachers and school administrators in my district.Sincerely,

State Senator Jack Martins has a lengthy reply here, and ends with this…

At the moment New York needs a caring pragmatist willing to address real concerns raised by caring parents and educators who see a system being manipulated from above to the detriment of their children. Unfortunately, we have John King. He should immediately reschedule these forums or he should immediately resign.

State Senator Timothy Kennedy urged King to reschedule the meetings.

It should be mentioned that State Assemblyman Steve Englebright initially called for King’s resignation in August. He was ahead of the curve!

The state senators representing Comsewogue have been curiously silent. However, they say a picture speaks a thousand words…

Surprise! NY’s Teacher Evals Don’t Work!

File this under “least surprising news of the year”. A story in The Journal News reports that New York’s teacher evaluation system is pretty much a failure and a waste of millions and millions of dollars.

“Our fears were realized,” said Harrison Superintendent Louis Wool, who was president of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents when the study was started in the spring. “The first round of assessments did not accurately measure the value of teachers whose students are in poverty, in special education or speak limited English. We are concerned that we have spent countless hours and millions and millions of dollars to produce results that are not comparable across the state and do not inform teacher practice or student learning.”

Countless hours and millions of dollars, not to mention the fear and intimidation that has become prevalent in many schools throughout the state as teachers are bullied into teaching explicitly to the state tests.

Bruce Baker, a Rutgers professor and expert on school finance adds…

“For the state to continue to enforce these measures in the face of contradictory evidence is over-the-top ridiculous.”

Ah, but this is New York. Home of corporate reform-loving plutocrats like Merryl Tisch, corrupt politicians like Andrew Cuomo, and their lackey John King. They’re not going to let things as inconsequential as evidence, wasted time, or wasted tax payer dollars stand in the way of corporate reforms. The show must go on!

King, responding to NYSUT’s call for a three-year moratorium on using high stakes testing to evaluate teachers, called the request a distraction and added, “We all agreed to the evaluation system: the governor, the Legislature, NYSUT and the state Education Department. We committed to the evaluation system knowing that we were going to implement the evaluation system alongside a change in the standards through the work on the Common Core.”

Which brings us to another question. Why is NYSUT, the AFT, and the UFT calling for a three-year moratorium? A garbage evaluation system today will still be garbage in three years. Junk science is junk science. What really should have happened is that they never should have agreed to an evaluation system that evaluates teachers based on standardized test scores.

But alas, they did and we are stuck with a system that a study now proves does not work.