Resume Common Core forums: Martins

Dan Glaun

State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) has called on State Education Commissioner John King to either resume holding suspended public forums on the new Common Core learning standards or resign from office.

And in an interview with Blank Slate Media, state Department of Education spokesperson Dennis Tompkins said the forums would be held – once the format is changed to prevent the confrontational protests that prompted King to suspend the events.

Martins wrote that he had been inundated with questions about the standards, which were the basis for new exams that led to sharp declines in scores this year among schools statewide. 

Martins criticized King’s postponement of a Common Core forum that was to be held Tuesday in Garden City and called for his resignation should he not immediately reschedule the event.

“Blaming “special interests” (i.e. concerned parents) for what he felt was an unconstructive atmosphere, he chose to suspend subsequent meetings including the Long Island event that was to be held right here in Garden City,” Martins wrote. “This was an incredibly poor decision on his part.  Anyone involved in government must understand that just because you don’t like the score, doesn’t mean you can take your bat and your ball and go home. This is especially true as Dr. King not only chose the game, he set the rules by which our children will be gauged.  It’s wrong.”

Tompkins said the department would reschedule the events after consulting with the state PTA and educators to design a new format for the forums, to discourage the confrontations at earlier events that had prompted the suspensions.

“The commissioner will be holding events on Long Island for parents,” Tompkins said. “We suspended those events because they had been initially commandeered by individuals who intended to disrupt those events.”

King suspended the forums Oct. 12, following the first of five scheduled appearances. That first forum, held in Poughkeepsie, featured an “often critical and loud crowd,” according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

King blamed the disruptions on “special interests” and suspended the remaining forums that day.

The Common Core standards, adopted by the state in 2010, are designed to be more rigorous and better prepare students for college and professional careers, according to Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch. Schools across the state and in Nassau County experienced sharp declines in scores following last year’s first set of exams under the new standards, and administrators, educators and parents have voiced concerns about the testing.

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