Common Core protest doesn't materialize, superintendents say
Teachers in Long Island classrooms, such as this one in a May 1, 2013 photo, are evaluated by a system using student test scores, classroom observations and factors such as contacts with parents. Credit: Heather Walsh
An attempt to get parents to keep their children home from public schools Monday to protest state testing requirements fell flat, school officials said.
Last week, Janet Ward Wilson, an upstate New York mother, started a virtual campaign via Facebook and the website saynotocommoncore.net to make Nov. 18 Don't Send Your Child to School Day.
But school officials on Long Island said attendance was normal Monday. "It's a non-issue, as far as we are concerned," said David Feller, president of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents.
He said attendence was normal in his own district, North Merrick, and that when he asked 15 other superintendents from Nassau districts he was meeting with Monday they said the same.
Dr. Roberta Gerold, president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association, also said attendance was normal in her district, Middle Country, and appeared to be so in other districts as well.
"As far as I know, it sounds like everything is normal," she said.
Last week, hundreds of parents and teachers showed up for two forums on Long Island hosted by state education officials to voice their concerns about the Common Core learning standards that rely heavily on high-stakes testing. The New York State PTA also has called for a one-year moratorium on Common Core-related testing.
Another community forum is scheduled on Nov. 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Eastport-South Manor High School in Manorville, and the final Long Island forum this year is scheduled for Dec. 9 in Nassau County, but the time and location have not been announced.
The New York City schools did not yet have available their attendence figures for Monday, spokesman said.
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
