Over 200 Attend Common Core Public Forum in Massapequa

MASSAPEQUA, NY - Almost 200 people attended the public forum on Common Core at the American Legion Hall in Massapequa on Monday night.

According to the Facebook event, the forum was meant to be a “public discussion with public school advocates who are on the frontlines dealing with Common Core, testing, state regulations, evaluations and their impact on our children’s classrooms.”

Parents and teachers from Bethpage, Massapequa, Plainview Old Bethpage, Farmingdale, and Plainedge all attended the event.

Guest speakers included: Dr. Joseph V. Rella, Superintendent of the Comsewogue School District; Dr. Peter Osroff, principal of Garden City Middle School; Jeanette Deutermann, founder of L.I. Opt Out and co-founder of NYS Allies for Public Education; and Tomia Smith, president of the Massapequa Federation of Teachers.

The event was the first in a series of “Public Education at the Crossroads,” created to demonstrate weaknesses in state tests and how the tests links to job evaluations of teachers and principals.

Last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed a law which would based about 50 percent of teachers’ ratings on the results of student testings which opponents are saying that puts too much stress on both students and teachers, according to a report in Newsday.

Over 60,000 students on Long Island opted out of testing last year.

“Even though a moratorium is in place, our children are still being asked to sit down for tests in great need of improvement,” Smith said according to Newsday.