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Hundreds protest at NYS Sen. John Flanagan's Smithtown office - Oppose Common Core curriculum, standardized tests
Hundreds protest at Sen. John Flanagan's Smithtown officeOppose Common Core curriculum, standardized tests |
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Smithtown teachers rally with others at Sen. Flanagan's office Friday. Photo by Elana Glowatz
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Teachers and parents from school districts all over Suffolk County hoisted signs with slogans like "Save Our Schools" as rush hour traffic passed on Middle Country Road and drivers honked their approval.
Beth Dimino, president of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association, said she brought 50 teachers with her to picket.
"High-stakes testing and the Common Core hurt children, so that has to go," she said.
Many of the protesters said one of their reasons for attending Friday was that the learning standards and the testing give children anxiety.
Mary Calamia, a clinical social worker from Holbrook with a practice in Stony Brook, said she is seeing more children with mental health issues, including children as young as 6 years old who are self-mutilating, and she attributes the issues to the learning standards and testing.
Laura Fox, a Sachem reading teacher, said, "We're going to have a generation of kids with stomach problems and sleeping problems" because of the anxiety.
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Jamie Pedersen, 4, shows her support for the grown-ups at Friday's rally. Photo by Elana Glowatz
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Huntington resident Andy Scanlon, who has two children who are teachers in New York City, said the Common Core came from the top down, and government officials did not consult educators in developing the standards. He said the untested curriculum also sends students' stress "off the charts."
Among the concerns that brought the protesters to Flanagan's office was a perceived unwillingness to help.
Laura Spencer, president of the Smithtown Teachers' Association, said the senator "needs to start listening to his constituents." He is in a position to make positive changes for the public school system, she said, to end high-stakes testing and prevent children's personal information from being released to testing companies, another reason some protesters gathered Friday.
Flanagan, the chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Education, said in a phone interview Monday that the protest was "an exercise in democracy" and the attendees had a right to voice their opinions. But he said he has an open-door policy, is engaging the public on Common Core, testing and privacy issues, and has had several public meetings that covered the very concerns of Friday's protesters.
One upcoming local public meeting will be at Ward Melville High School on Nov. 12, and state Education Commissioner John King will be attending.
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Parents and educators line Middle Country Road Friday. Photo by Elana Glowatz
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"This is all about, what are we doing for students in the state of New York."
Ann Marie Inzalaco, an Italian teacher in the Middle Country school district for 14 years, said she believes children need to learn about things that interest them, not just the material that is being tested.
"That's what makes a whole person," she said. And educators cannot put "everyone in the same funnel because not everyone fits."
Smithtown teacher Brian Hack expressed similar sentiments.
"Common Core curbs creativity," he said.
The sixth-grade English and math teacher also said it was a mistake that the learning standards were not piloted before being adopted for the entire state.
About the leaders who are regulating education in New York, including Flanagan, Dimino said they have a year to fix it before the next Election Day or they are going to be voted out of office.
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