Common Core and Censored Information

Check Out the Brainwashing Aligned with Common Core!

October 9, 2013

By Sara Noble, The Independent Sentinel

LINK

When the president of the New York State Teachers Union, Richard Ianuzzi, came out in support of the Common Core, he also strongly supported propagandized lesson plans which are aligned with the Core. He has numerous lesson plans posted on the NYSUT blog to prove it. They do not instruct children, they brainwash them into one school of thought.
I include two excerpts from actual lesson plans below with a short biography of the authors.

JOHN LEWIS
The first lesson plan comes from Democratic representative John Lewis and focuses on non-violent activism and the social justice movement.
John Lewis is a civil rights and peace activist and a Democratic politician. He is a strong proponent of social justice which is referred to by many as neo-communism because at its heart is the redistribution of assets from the haves to the have-nots.
In March 2010, a report that Lewis and another black Congressman, Andre Carson, had been called ‘nigger’ by Tea Party protesters outside the Capitol received media attention. Some conservative sources criticized the claim, saying that no video showed up to prove the charges, and the videotapes of the event that later surfaced in fact disproved them. The New York Times issued a correction in July 2010, acknowledging that there was no evidence of Tea Party members hurling racial epithets at Lewis and Carson. Andrew Breitbart offered a $100,000 reward for anyone who could provide audio or video evidence of one of these instances, but none surfaced.
Lewis supports the Occupy movement, a loosely-organized union of far-left radicals who are mainly comprised of Socialists, Communists, Democratic Socialists.
During the 2008 presidential election, Lewis accused John McCain and Sarah Palin of  “sowing the seeds of hatred and division” in a way that brought to mind the late Gov. George Wallace  and “another destructive period” in American political history.
Anyone who disagrees with Barack Obama is a racist!
Click here for this lesson plan from John Lewis which I have excerpted below:

Cumulating activity

Have each group select a current social justice movement. In writing, students should identify the social, political, and/or cultural changes the movement seeks to make, the leader(s) of the movement, and the tactics being used to achieve the desired change(s). Are the individuals involved like John Lewis? Is John Lewis’s legacy seen in this event?

• Create a power point on the actions of John Lewis in his activism for social change.
• Become a defender
• Review the non-violent tactics used during the Civil Rights Movement. Create a t-shirt, poster, lawn sign, song, or movie to bring publicity to a social justice cause important to you.
• Organize a “Non-violence Day” at school. Make a collection of social activist songs to download as a playlist to be played during the lunch periods.
• Design a public education campaign for your school on non-violent responses to pressing social issues.
• Select a current social justice issue that impacts your community. Develop a non-violent campaign to create change on the issue.

ANTHONY KAPEL ‘VAN’ JONES
The second lesson for review was created by Van Jones, a former White House advisor and advisor to The Center for American Progress, a far-left think tank. In college, he described himself as an angry black separatist.

 VanJones at an anti-police rally he organized

His lesson on police brutality comes from his background as an anti-police protestor in Los Angeles. He engaged in the Rodney King protests in 1992 and spent some time in jail. He came out of that experience an avowed communist. In fact, he was a committed Marxist-Leninist Maoist.
In 1999, he campaigned to free cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal.
He has since taken on the more subtle and deceptive approach of Saul Alinsky to achieve his goals.
He said the following in a 2005 interview:

“Before, we would fight anybody, any time. No concession was good enough; we never said ‘Thank you.’ Now, I put the issues and constituencies first. I’ll work with anybody, I’ll fight anybody if it will push our issues forward…. I’m willing to forgo the cheap satisfaction of the radical pose for the deep satisfaction of radical ends…. I realized that there are a lot of people who are capitalists — shudder, shudder — who are really committed to fairly significant change in the economy, and were having bigger impacts than me and a lot of my friends with our protest signs.”

He no longer says he is a communist though he also never denies it and his beliefs align with those of the Communist Party USA on issues from environmental justice, social justice, reparations, extreme anti-war stance, and so on. He also is a vocal opponent of Capitalism. So what’s left? I leave that to you.
He worked on anti-war projects with Maoist, Elizabeth Martinez, on STORM. In 2001, he publicly denounced the United States for having brought the disaster on itself. He is also a Truther.
He organized a rally on 9/12/2001 to celebrate the 9/11 attack on the United States. Van Jones can be seen at 04:39 on the tape:
He recently sat – and might still sit – on the board of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, a Communist Party USA splinter group. His Green For All environmental project is tied to George Soros’ Open Society.
He strongly supports the Occupy movement.
The following is an excerpt from his lesson which can be found here:

BECOME A DEFENDER

• While it is important to trust what is within the news, it is much more difficult to discover what is truly going on, especially when it is the law enforcers you are investigating. Interview known victims, friends and family of victims, and even the police force to hear the official accounts and what is not being reported by the government or media.
• Invite members of local law enforcement agencies – local police, county sheriffs, state police – to your class to talk about what the job of being a police officer entails and what training officers have to prevent excessive use of force.
• Discuss and debate your and your classmates’ perceptions of police brutality compared with what is in the law, what is portrayed in the media, and by the government. Do they align with each other? Compile stories of police brutality locally, nationally, and internationally and argue the pros and cons of the case. Do you believe that the amount of force was merited?
• If there has been a specific instance of police brutality in your area, prepare materials for a teach-in at your school to inform both students and teachers about police brutality and how to work with the local police force to end it. This information can also be shared with civic and community organizations.
• Research the United States’ official position on police brutality. What actions does the U.S. Justice Department take against law enforcement agencies that violate U.S. laws on police brutality?
• Research United States Supreme Court decisions on cases dealing with police brutality. Create a time line of cases and their outcomes. Prepare a report for your class on the background of the cases and the outcome.
• Contact organizations within the United States that work to eliminate police brutality. Find out what you can do to help end brutality and organize a branch of that organization locally.
• Write to a federal official and file a complaint if you believe that what you have seen, heard, read, or experienced is a form of police brutality.
• Find out what the state of police brutality is in other nations, whether they are democracies, dictatorships, conflict zones, or peace-keeping nations. Countries must work together to reduce excessive force by law enforcement worldwide. Prepare materials to present to your class and civic and community organizations on the background of these abuses and what actions can be taken to bring about the end to such activities in these countries.
• Write to the United Nations Human Rights Council citing reasons to end the abuses of law enforcement globally.
• Research international organizations dedicated to ending police brutality and volunteer to work on their cause.

The far-left propaganda is undeniable. These are the plans coming out of the New York State Teacher’s Union. They are promoted by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a prime mover and funder of the Common Core.
Even if you agree with this stance, why would you want propaganda to be part of your child’s curricula? Don’t we want our children to have exposure to facts and then choose for themselves?

Pa. Texting Scandal Highlights Complexities for IT Leaders

re-posted from Parentadvocates.org
Abdallah Hawa, the information technology director for the 7,200-student Coatesville Area system, near Philadelphia, was erasing the memory of the district-owned cellphone of Coatesville Area High School's athletic director in August when he uncovered a lengthy text-message exchange between the sports official and the superintendent in which racist slurs were directed at district students and staff members. Mr. Hawa reported his discovery, prompting the resignations of both Superintendent Richard Como and Athletic Director Jim Donato, the revelation of an already-underway criminal investigation into the district, and allegations from Mr. Hawa's lawyer that the IT chief was pressured to compromise the security of the district's computer network and has been harassed as a whistleblower.
          

Abdallah Hawa, left, technology director for the Coatesville, Pa., district, greets parents and teachers during a school board meeting last month

Pa. Texting Scandal Highlights Complexities for IT Leaders
BENJAMIN HEROLD OCT 15, 2013
LINK

The recent furor caused by the discovery of racist text messages involving a Pennsylvania superintendent has cast new light on the growing professional, ethical, and legal challenges faced by many district information technology departments now awash in digital devices.

Abdallah Hawa, the information technology director for the 7,200-student Coatesville Area system, near Philadelphia, was erasing the memory of the district-owned cellphone of Coatesville Area High School's athletic director in August when he uncovered a lengthy text-message exchange between the sports official and the superintendent in which racist slurs were directed at district students and staff members.

Mr. Hawa reported his discovery, prompting the resignations of both Superintendent Richard Como and Athletic Director Jim Donato, the revelation of an already-underway criminal investigation into the district, and allegations from Mr. Hawa's lawyer that the IT chief was pressured to compromise the security of the district's computer network and has been harassed as a whistleblower.

Richard Como

 
Keith R. Krueger, the CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, or CoSN, described the still-unfolding scandal as a cautionary tale.

The popular practice of issuing mobile devices to district employees, Mr. Krueger said, has resulted in a growing need for professional development on acceptable technology use, continued examples of school officials who behave illegally or inappropriately in the digital arena, and an easily accessible data trail that has placed greater responsibilities on IT staff members, who must balance their other professional obligations with new legal requirements to preserve data and records.

"The best way for districts to handle (the new challenges) is good education and policies ahead of time," Mr. Krueger said. "Those are easier to deal with than a situation that explodes on the front page of the newspaper."
Inappropriate Behavior

Other examples of inappropriate behavior using district-owned digital technology, said Mr. Krueger, have included unauthorized long-distance calls, "sexting" among staff, and predatory behaviors directed from adults to minors. In March, for example, a New York City special education teacher was fired after he was discovered using a district-owned email account to arrange sexual encounters via the website Craigslist.

Daniel A. Domenech, the executive director of AASA, the American Association of School Administrators, said that many district chiefs now carry two smartphones in order to split their professional and personal communications.

"If you don't want public eyes on it, then don't use a publicly owned device," he said.

For the vast majority of conscientious superintendents, Mr. Domenech said, that approach is a common-sense way to keep district business separate from messages with a spouse, for example.

But Mr. Como, the 67-year-old educator who led the Coatesville Area School District from 2005 until his resignation Aug. 29, used a district-owned device for his inflammatory conversation with Mr. Donato.

Portions of the pair's electronic exchange were published by the Daily Local News in West Chester, Pa., last month. Dozens of times, the men used a racial epithet in reference to Coatesville students and staff members who are African-American.

In one exchange, the IT director, Mr. Hawa, who is Lebanese-American, was the object of multiple derogatory slurs used against people of Middle Eastern descent.

Samuel C. Stretton, the lawyer for Mr. Hawa, said his client was "sickened" to read the messages and reported them to the district's deputy superintendent, Teresa Powell. Ms. Powell has since alleged that she has been harassed since helping make the messages public and is also a client of Mr. Stretton's.

"I don't know if there's a clear policy, but [Mr. Hawa] did the right thing, the only thing he could have done under those circumstances," Mr. Stretton said.

Mr. Domenech of the Arlington, Va.-based aasa described as "inconceivable" both the content of Mr. Como and Mr. Donato's exchange and their decision to carry it out on district-owned devices.

"It's just like kids going on social media, posting all kinds of things, and thinking the world isn't going to see it," he said.
Security Questions

Under the federal Children's Internet Protection Act, said Mr. Krueger of CoSN, districts that accept federal E-rate funding are expected to try to prevent such behaviors on the front end.

"Every school district in the country should be providing professional development to faculty about the appropriate use of their devices, network, and email," he said.

As the racist text messages in Coatesville were being made public, the Chester County, Pa., district attorney's office confirmed that it was already in the midst of investigating possible wrongdoing in the district. The text messages that were made public also contain apparent allusions to skimming money out of the school system.

In late September, Mr. Stretton, the lawyer for Mr. Hawa, alleged in two email messages to the Coatesville Area school board that his client had been denied access to the district's computer system, that "a private computer company has taken over the entire technology department," and that Mr. Hawa had been inappropriately ordered to hand over passwords to the district's computing network to the district's new acting superintendent. Together, Mr. Stretton argued, the actions served to effectively strip Mr. Hawa of his authority and to compromise the security of the district's digital records.

"These are the people who are trying to cover things up and make it difficult to prove certain things," Mr. Stretton said in an interview. "God knows what they've done."

In a statement, J. Neil Campbell, the president of the school board, denied the allegations.

"The (Coatesville school) board engaged the services of a well-respected data-security firm to ensure that all records have been maintained. The goal was to ensure that no files had been or would be altered or deleted," Mr. Campbell wrote.

Thomas P. Hogan, the Chester County district attorney, said that a school district facing criminal inquiries should first have its lawyers and IT department map out a strategy for safeguarding evidence and backing up files with minimal disruption to the district's operations, then should communicate its plan to the prosecutor to avoid any perception of interference.

That can put employees like Mr. Hawa in a dicey position, Mr. Hogan acknowledged.

"The IT director really at that point has a double set of duties," he said. "They have to preserve any data that might be related to the investigation from the standpoint of the government. They also have a duty to follow any lawful orders of the (district) regarding that data."

Since the resignations of Mr. Como and Mr. Donato, the Coatesville district has engaged the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the local NAACP "to help our community heal," according to the statement issued by the board president.

Mr. Stretton is still threatening to pursue charges that Mr. Hawa and Ms. Powell were harassed as whistleblowers and to call for the removal of the Coatesville district's acting superintendent and solicitor.

Mr. Krueger of CoSN cautioned that the problems in Coatesville are a reminder of human, not technological, shortcomings, and that the situation actually highlights how digital data can help detect and punish inappropriate or illegal behavior.

"How would you handle hate speech if it was written, or if it was said in a staff meeting?" Mr. Krueger said. "This instance should be handled in the same way, except you're not in 'he said-she said' mode. There's actually a record."

Education commissioner: Call for Common Core moratorium a 'distraction'

• 

BY JESSICA BAKEMAN, Capitol

LINK

ALBANY—State education commissioner John King said Tuesday that a call from teachers' unions for a three-year moratorium on using state exam results for “high-stakes” decisions is a “distraction” from the goal of improving New York graduates' outcomes in college and careers.

The state's new system for evaluating teachers and principals was presented last school year, at the same time that elementary and middle-school students began testing based on more difficult curriculum standards, called the Common Core.

School districts' locally negotiated evaluation systems use state exam results as a component of rating teachers, and according to the law, two consecutive negative evaluations can be used to fire a teacher. On last year's assessments, only 31 percent of students scored proficient or higher in math and language arts.

“We all agreed to the evaluation system: the governor, the Legislature, NYSUT and the state Education Department," King said Tuesday, after visiting an elementary school in Troy, near Albany. "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."

“[New York State United Teachers] has been very supportive of the Common Core and understands that the Common Core is critical to help students be better prepared for college and career readiness,” King continued. “So I think the key thing now is to move the work forward, to continue to provide the support and professional development, and I think revisiting the agreement that we all made is a distraction at this point.”

NYSUT, a powerful statewide union, has joined the American Federation of Teachers, a national organization, and the United Federation of Teachers, the New York City group, in requesting that the state delay using the exam results for "high stakes" evaluations during a three-year transitional period.

The call follows a campaign NYSUT launched last April denouncing the Common Core-aligned state exams, arguing that the state did not allow teachers and students the time and resources necessary to prepare. While nearly every state has adopted the Common Core, Kentucky and New York are the only states that have begun testing students on the material.

“It's important for parents to have confidence in the Common Core and for the testing to be reliable and valid. That doesn't exist right now,” Carl Korn, a spokesman for NYSUT, said Tuesday. “A mid-course correction will allow districts, parents and educators to become comfortable with the Common Core, to restore validity to the testing process and to allow the reforms to ultimately succeed.”

King said data from school districts on the teacher evaluations are due to the state by Friday, after which department officials will analyze the statewide results and release them to the public “later this fall." Teachers have received their composite scores, but King said he has not yet been able to review them.

“We'll wait until we have all the numbers in,” he said.

King also elaborated on his decision Monday to cancel four town-hall meetings with parents about the Common Core changes, after he encountered a rowdy crowd in Poughkeepsie last week. He said the meeting was not constructive and that he would work with the state Parent Teacher Association to create other opportunities for dialogue.

“There was heckling and screaming throughout," King said of the Poughkeepsie meeting last Thursday. "One parent, at one point, asked to try to be able to listen and for people to quiet down, and people started yelling at that parent. There were very loud outbursts, epithets yelled. It just wasn't a constructive environment for talking about much of anything."

King reiterated his argument that “special interest” groups that are opposed to the state's education reform initiatives planned to create chaos at the meeting. He wouldn't name or characterize the groups, saying “it doesn't matter really” who the groups were; it matters only that they were working to disrupt the meeting, he said.

“[They] were opposed to the changes to teacher evaluations, are now opposed to the Common Core, and organized to try and disrupt the event,” King said. “They actually sent out e-mails encouraging folks to be disruptive in the event, to dominate the microphone. There were folks handing out fliers filled with misinformation beforehand.

“So there was a systematic effort, not just for this meeting, but for all of the meetings, to try to disrupt them and prevent real discussion about the work that's happening in classrooms, on behalf of students,” he said.

Critics of King's decision took issue with his suggestion that “special interests” interfered with the meeting.

Korn, the NYSUT spokesman, said parents have a right to express their anger about the state's implementation of the Common Core and subsequent testing.

“Parents are not special interests,” he said.

Diane Ravitch: Write The Regents About Commissioner John King

 

Carol Burris On John King's Leadership

 

A Mom Asks For Commissioner John King To Be Censured, Reprimanded, or Asked To Resign

Diane Ravitch: Write The Regents About Commissioner John King

A NY Parent Objects to Commissioner King’s Cancellation of Parent Meetings by dianerav

LINK
John King, Commissioner of New York's education system, was booed repeatedly when he held his first parent meeting in upstate New York. The parents expressed their low opinion of his policies, his mandates, the Common Core, the Pearson testing, and the contempt King shows for teachers, principals, and public schools.

He opted out. He canceled all future public meetings with parents.

This Long Island parent recommends that parents write a letter to Governor Cuomo. Good idea. But even better to send a letter or email to the New York Board of Regents; that board approves state policy and appoints the State Commissioner. He works for them.

First I will appoint the parent's letter, then a list of the members of the Board of Regents:

"Dear Governor Cuomo, I'm writing to express my incredible displeasure at Commissioner John B. King, Jr.'s decision to cancel the state sponsored PTA town hall meetings. As parents, we have legitimate concerns regarding his educational reform policies that are affecting our children. He must have the decency to listen to our concerns and defend his decisions publicly. This is inexcusable, and he must be held accountable.

On Tuesday night, I was looking forward to asking him what evidence he had that it was educationally beneficial or a valid measure of learning to include reading passages on the 3rd grade ELA exam that the average 3rd grader would only understand 50% of the reading material according to our understanding of lexile levels.

If the State's education reform agenda is sincere in its efforts to improve teaching and learning for our children and not a thinly veiled effort to privatize public education for profit, it is imperative that corrective measures be taken now as a gesture of good faith. I implore you to immediately decrease the duration and frequency of testing, to ensure that the tests be returned to the schools and families so they can be used to make sound educational decisions that impact learning, and eliminate student test scores from teacher evaluations since VAM has been judged to be too unstable by the same people who developed it.

Many Long Island parents, like myself, moved to this region or chose to remain here because of the quality schools that have existed for decades. The Commissioner's policies are threatening our children's learning experiences. The canceling of these important meetings is further evidence of the Commissioner's arrogance. Though the Commissioner is not an elected official, he is appointed by people that are and as one of my elected officials I am requesting that you listen and respond to our concerns.

Sincerely,
Keith Gamache
(Parent of Everett age 7 Centre Ave. School, East Rockaway and Atticus age 4 future kindergartner)
231 Ocean Ave.
Lynbrook, NY 11563
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear ___________________, I'm writing to express my incredible displeasure at Commissioner John B. King, Jr.'s decision to cancel the state sponsored PTA town hall meetings. As parents, we have legitimate concerns regarding his educational reform policies that are affecting our children. He must have the decency to listen to our concerns and defend his decisions publicly. This is inexcusable, and he must be held accountable.

On Tuesday night, I was looking forward to asking him...insert your question here.

Many Long Island parents, like myself, moved to this region or chose to remain here because of the quality schools that have existed for decades. The Commissioner's policies are threatening our children's learning experiences. The canceling of these important meetings is further evidence of the Commissioner's arrogance. Though the Commissioner is not an elected official, he is appointed by people that are and as one of my elected officials I am requesting that you listen and respond to our concerns.

Sincerely,
Name
Children's School
Address"

PLEASE WRITE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK BOARD OF REGENTS. THEY MAKE POLICY. THEY HIRE THE STATE COMMISSIONER:

Here are their personal emails.

abottar@bottarleone.com, mhtisch@mhtisch.com; assistant@mhtisch.com,
bennrbrt@aol.com, bettyarosa@aol.com, cbendit@tacon.com,christine.cea@opwdd.ny.gov,
REGENTCHAPEY@MAIL.NYSED.GOV,harryphil236@gmail.com, james.cottrell@downstate.edu,
REGENTDAWSON@MAIL.NYSED.GOV, jinternetjack@earthlink.net, jtallon@uhfnyc.org,
lyoung11@nyc.rr.com, maggiemadonna5@aol.com, roger@tillesco.com,abrown@brownhutchinson.com;
wadenorwood@flhsa.org

They also have official ones listed here:

http://www.regents.nysed.gov/members/Membersterms0412.html

A Mom Asks For Commissioner John King To Be Censured, Reprimanded, or Asked To Resign

Mother to John King: I Have a “Special Interest”: My Son by dianerav

LINK

This letter was distributed to every member of the New York State Board of Regents, along with many elected officials in New York State.

Dear Distinguished Elected Officials,

I am the parent of two children one presently enrolled in the Spackenkill school district, the other is a junior in college studying computer science, much to my chagrin. I have an advanced degree and have practiced in the legal field for many years. I am raising my second child who is now in Kindergarten in the Spackenkill School District, Poughkeepsie, NY.

Spackenkill teachers are professional, engaging and amazing people! They go the extra mile for our students. We feel blessed to live and learn in this small community. But, I digress. A little more about me. Both my parents are physicians. My brother has a PhD in neuroscience. In fact, to be honest everyone in my family has an advanced degree of some sort, mostly MDs, a few pharmacists and some dentists. I have a JD. Naturally, I am the black sheep in this family both figuratively and pregoratively. My point?  As you can see, I am not an ignorant fool.....no, in my family we strive for and understand the value of a stellar education. I want to instill those values and I expect the same opportunity for my children too.

Which brings me to why I am writing you today. I am writing to express my deep disatisfaction with Commissioner of Education John  B. King, Jr. I attended and spoke at the October 10, 2013 Town Hall event and would like to share my thoughts with you, if you dont mind.

The event, at capacity, was hosted by the NYSPTA. My friend Jennifer Kaufman (who also spoke) and I sat in my car prior to the event debating whether we should bail and go for coffee to catch up. That was the extent of our "plot" to organize some sort of concerted effort to "manipulate and control" the forum. I assure you, that was the farthest thing from our minds that evening. My intention that evening was to face Dr. King, make eye contact and to be heard with the hopes that he would address my concerns. End of story. No conspiracy there.

From the NYSPTA Town Hall flyer:

"NYS PTA is providing you with this opportunity to gather information,

ask questions, and share concerns with NYS Education Commissioner

John King and/or other SED Representatives at one of five town hall meetings around the state"

Those of us who were at the meeting saw firsthand that Dr King must have missed the memo. Instead of providing parents and teachers the opportunity to "ask questions, and share concerns" this meeting was dominated by Dr. King. The audience was not given much opportunity to speak, ask questions or raise concerns which issues we were hoping the Commissioner would address.

Concededly, there were some hecklers at the meeting. People who were rude and spoke out of turn. But, I understand why they were acting this way. You see, as parents and teachers I feel that we have not been afforded an opportunity to express our concerns directly to the man in charge - Commissioner King- about Core, privacy or testing and this was our golden moment. A shot. A chance. A rare opportunity for us as parents and teachers to face the man who is making important, significant educational policy decisions that have been affecting our lives every day and night at, breakfast, lunch and at the dinner table with our children. Look, this forum was supposed to be our turn to have a say, a voice, a chance to express concerns. This evening, for once, was about us,  not about him.

I understand that some people were rude and spoke out of turn. Some hecklers were annoying. But, so what? This is a very important subject one that we have been denied an opportunity to participate in at the outset. So, even though I dont condone such behavior, I understand where these people were coming from. In my opinion, whether rational or not, they were coming from a primal need and desire to protect their children. Guess what? I GET THAT AND CAN RESPECT THAT. Can you? Truthfully, if Commissioner King had handled these individuals questions and concerns with sensitivity, tact and grace then I would have had respect for him also.

But thats not what happened. I was there. I spoke at the mic. I consumed every last second of my precious 2 minutes at that mic. while Dr. King made attempts to further dominate and manipulate the forum. I had 2 minutes to speak up - I did the best that I could speaking as quickly but articulately as I could knowing full well that my concerns were not and have not been addressed and probably wont be. This  does not sit well with me. But, to add insult to injury,  the meeting ended abruptly after 5 speakers including myself presented  leaving at least 75 or more people who were simply denied the chance to speak. On subject matter of this magnitude, this is simply unacceptable.

Commissioner King has since canceled all further Town Hall appearances without affording parents, students, and teachers an opportunity to have a voice in the curriculum that is being bestowed on them. We deserve better. What a disappointment and disgrace to parents, teachers and students of Spackenkill and the State of NY. I am very disgusted with the support Commissioner King is recieving from Robert Bartlett, Regents Board Member and Chief.

I would like to express my incredible displeasure at Commissioner John B. King, Jr.’s decision and the support being promulgated by the Board of Regents about his decision to cancel the state sponsored PTA town hall meetings. As I stated earlier, we have legitimate concerns regarding NYS educational reform policies that are affecting our children and deserve an opportunity and forum in which to be heard, not patronized.....heard. Commissioner King is an appointed official who oversees the education of our children. He became defensive when mention was made of his own 2 children, so he should understand why we as parents feel defensive towards NYSED when it comes to the policies being implemented and the curriculum around those policies that affect our children and our lives.

Commissioner King should at least have had the decency to listen to concerns and address policy and curriculum related decisions publicly. He did not do this. This speaks volumes. Frankly, may I be so bold as to suggest that Comissioner King apologize for shutting down dialogue on a subject that is so significant to us as parents and teachers on a daily basis. We breathe it. We sleep it. We eat it. I am flabbergasted that Commissioner King does not have the sensitivity or capacity to understand where parents and teachers are coming from.

Many parents, like myself, chose to raise our children here in NY because of the quality schools that have existed for decades. The Commissioner’s policies seem fatally flawed and the curriculum has been poorly implemented. The canceling of these important meetings suggests to me that the Commissioner of Education, and his progeny, are more concerned with privatized education and corporate nepotism that children and teachers.

Commissioner King claims that the forum was hijacked by self interest groups intent on dominating and manipulating the forum. In one article that is presently circulating, Commissioner King was asked to identify the "self interest" groups he was referring to. He was quoted as saying: google it. I did. The video in which I speak comes up. Commissioner King further elaborates about these purported self interest groups alleging that "Email blasts encouraging their membership to dominate the microphone and take over the meeting," were sent.  http://jamestown.ynn.com/content/news/700678/education-commissioner-to-consider-rescheduling-meetings/#sthash.kk64eK2B.dpuf

Well, if I were an average citizen, which Im not, I would write a boiler plate letter and be done with it. But, Im not writing you a boiler plate letter for a reason. I am disgusted by King's representations. I am a one of the parents who spoke for 2 minutes at the mircophone on October 10, 2013 before Commissioner King and he has essentially reduced my concerns to anti education reform zealot rhetoric. I dont take kindly to that representation and I dont think my 6 year old and his teachers would appreciate it either.

In the short video aptly entitled "Commissioner gets Spanked" by Mert Melfa, I can be seen around the 7min 10 sec mark. I am "Anna Shak" (sic....its Shah). I am a parent. A taxpayer. A citizen. A mother. I am all of those things and I dont appreciate the fact that Commissioner King dismissed my concerns.

A copy of my speech is attached herewith. I cannot tell you how many hours I have devoted to researching these issues prior to this event in order to be fully informed before speaking to the Commissioner. I wrote my speech because I was thrilled beyond imagination about having the opportunity to voice my concerns to Dr King in an open forum. As you can see from the video and my speech, I was respectful, articulate and I advanced intelligent, well versed and legitimate concerns that I have about common core, testing and privacy that I wanted the Commissioner to hear. I did not even get to finish my statement within the 2 minute mark despite the fact that I had practiced it over 100 times and had clocked in at 1 minute 54 seconds - giving myself the cushion of a few seconds leeway in case I had to sneeze or cough during my statement before Dr. King.

I am disgusted beyond words that a man of the Commissioner's stature would choose to dismiss parents and lump speakers in with "special interest" groups just because he did not like what he was hearing. King's statements are inflammatory and abhorrent.  Rest assured, I am not a special interest group - I am a parent, a tax payer and a mother  of two children who simply wants to make sound decisions that are right for my children. I took the opportunity that exists in a democratic society to air my concerns to the official to whom those matters whould be addressed and he slammed the door in my face and the face of all of us. This is absolutely unacceptable and should not be tolerated by those of you who are in a position to do something about it.

Cancelling further Town Hall sessions and referring to speakers at the mircrophone that night as an organized effort by "special interests" to "dominate and manipulate" the forum was disgraceful. I am offended beyond words by this man.  The Commissioner's decision to cancel further appearances speaks volumes. While I went into this forum willing to have an open mind, circumstances have now changed as a result of King's behavior. I question his agenda more now then I did before the meeting. I have lost faith and respect in the Education Department. I have been unwilling to be swayed by zealots who argue against education reform in general, as King so put it, but King's lack of judgment has given legitimacy to these coalitions. As a result of King's own actions, I am worried that the Core initiative is less about children and more about competing interests (think $). Personally, I attended the meeting skeptical of this initiative, concerned about common core strategies and its implementation and yes I had nagging questions. But, to be honest, I was open to being persuaded if the evidence to back up this plan was there. It wasnt. I had hope that this meeting would quell my concerns so that I could have faith in Commissioner King's leadership. I went into it as a parent. But, when I realized how mismanaged the system is and how irresponsible Commissioner King has been with legitimate concerns, red flags were raised and circumstances changed considerably for me. King has thrown down the gauntlet- he has accused me of being a "special interest" and he questionsmy agenda. So be it. I have no problem being accused of being a "special interest". Indeed, my special interest is 6 years old and his name is Tyler and I would love the opportunity to face Commissioner King one more time.

There have been allegations made by Regent Board Member Bennett that Commissioner King was subject to racial slurs at this meeting. I was there at the meeting. I have watched the video several times. Given the fact that I am a person of color, a minority, I am acutely aware and sensitive to the challenges that minorities face on a daily basis. I can assure you that I heard no racial epithets and, in my opinion, the Comissioners race was not a factor at this event.

For all of the forgoing reasons, I am respectfully requesting that elected officials censure, reprimand and/or seek the resignation of Commissioner John B. King, Jr. immediately.

I am attaching a photo of myself and my youngest, "special interest". Rest assured, I will remain active, interested and involved in my child's education for despite Commissioner King attempt to shut me and other parents like me out of it. Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.

Respectfully submitted,

Anna Shah

Here is another post from Diane Ravitch:

Parent: I Was at the Poughkeepsie Meeting by dianerav This comment came from a mother who attended the infamous meeting where State Commissioner John King announced his intention to have a dialogue with parents, then lectured the audience for over an hour, and interrupted those who disagreed with him. Having announced five such meetings, he canceled the other four, claiming that "special interests" had manipulated the parents. This parent says she was there. She writes: "....I was at the Poughkeepsie Meeting. Sat in the front row, cause I wanted to look directly into the eyes of the man who has stolen the love of school from my 9 year old. I am a mom, I have two boys (9 and 14) and we reside in the small community of Millbrook NY. No matter if the persons who did speak were teachers, they were most likely parents too....and I trust them to be surrogate parents to my children when they are in their care 6-7 hours a day. We are a team. So, I suggest that every parent start attending every BOE meeting and PTA/O meeting (as I have for the last 4 years, and that's why I was at that meeting in Poughkeepsie) to show the local districts our support and encourage them to break free of the STATES hold on our children's love of learning and their own love for teaching. REVOLT.....great history lesson....lets stop talking about how teachers are scared for your Jobs...implementing the CC cause you have to...and lets NOT DO IT ANYMORE. The claim from King was that local districts have some control...and I agree, so now we should show him!!!! Some of the problem is that not enough parents understand how much power we hold in the accountability dept. But, we are educating ourselves and in turn becoming more involved whether our districts want us there or NOT. It's time for WE THE PEOPLE.....Teachers and Parents TOGETHER....No excuses, we are just as much to blame for this mess as anyone else. Let's listen to each other and lets take back the importance of educating our youth. I am writing for King's resignation. His disrespect for anyone to have a voice showed him to be the Dictator of his "Communistic Core" and I will not be silenced....this mama bear will fight for her cubs."

Mike Bloomberg in 2011: Dump Half of NYC's Teachers

Mayor Stuns Many At MIT Speech, Says He'd Greatly Enlarge Class Size, Too

December 1, 2011 11:59 PM

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Bill de Blasio, Cathie Black,Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Michael Mulgrew, NYC schools, Rich Lamb, United Federation of Teachers

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — It’s a jaw-dropping prescription for fixing city schools.

“Professor” Michael Bloomberg said Thursday he would accomplish more with less by slashing the teaching staff in half — and that’s just the beginning, reports CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer.

He looked like he was from another planet when he dressed as a hippie for a political show, but the mayor’s blueprint for fixing city schools have some asking “what was he smoking?”

WCBS 880′s Rich Lamb With Reaction From NYC Public Advocate Bill De Blasio

“Education is very much, I’ve always thought, just like the real estate business. Real estate business, there are three things that matter: location, location, location is the old joke,” Bloomberg said. “Well in education, it is: quality of teacher, quality of teacher, quality of teacher. And I would, if I had the ability - which nobody does really – to just design a system and say, ‘ex cathedra, this is what we’re going to do,’ you would cut the number of teachers in half, but you would double the compensation of them and you would weed out all the bad ones and just have good teachers. And double the class size with a better teacher is a good deal for the students.”

That’s right. The mayor told people at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology conference it would be far better to run city schools with way fewer people. And, by the way, on the billionaire’s perfect planet that would mean cramming more kids into each classroom.

Andrea Spencer is dean of the School of Education at Pace University.

“When I heard the statement I was really shocked,” Spencer said. “There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that half of the teachers in any system are ineffective. What there is evidence to support is the fact that larger classes really place detriments in the way of learning.”

But “Professor” Bloomberg is sticking to his views.

“The best thing you can do is put the best teacher you can possibly find and afford in front of the classroom and if you have to have fewer because there’s only a certain number of dollars to go around, I’m in favor of that,” Bloomberg said.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said he put the mayor’s latest views on teaching in the same category of his decision to appoint a former magazine editor with no teaching experience to be schools chancellor.

“So the mayor thinks this is a good idea, in high schools to have class size in high schools of 70 kids. Clearly the mayor has never taught,” said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.

“And probably the mayor’s having another Cathie Black moment.”

The mayor also said he’s given teachers a 105 percent raise since he took office. Mulgrew said maybe the mayor should have stopped in at a math class while he was at MIT.

In lamenting the quality of teachers, the mayor claimed they come from the bottom 20 percent of their class and not the best schools.