A response from my NYS Assemblymember

I just received this email in response to my concerns expressed to my NYS Assembly person (THEY ARE LISTENING!):

I am writing in response to your correspondence concerning the Regents selection process.

On Thursday March 5th after five hours of debate the State Assembly passed a bill to delay some aspects of Common Core, A8929 (Nolan). I am one of the sponsors of this bill.  This measure would among other provisions, impose a two year moratorium that would decouple Common Core-aligned test scores with teacher evaluations and student placement decisions. This bill also prohibits the Education Department’s transmission of personally identifiable information to inBloom, or any third party vendor for use in a database and also provides that a parent may request personally identifiable information be withheld from third parties.  We believe that schools can effectively use data to improve teaching and learning while ensuring the privacy, security and confidentiality of students and educators. We have heard and are trying to address the anxiety over the standards, and the Regents are caught in the crossfire.

The Regent that represents Kings County, Kathleen Cashin, has been an educator with the New York City school systems for over 35 years. I voted for her when she was elected to the Board of Regents in 2011.  The Common Core issue was determined in 2009 long before her term began. You can be assured of my attention to this issue as it moves through the legislative process. 

Please do not hesitate to contact me again on matters of concern.

Sincerely,

Joan L. Millman

Member of Assembly

PARENTS–Contact NYS Legislators TODAY & Tell them to VOTE NO on NYS Regents Incumbents!

Last week I wrote a post about the Regents incumbents that are scheduled to be voted on tomorrow. Well, interestingly, there are a last minute round of interviews scheduled for those seats today. It sounds like parents and educators have made their wishes known that there needs to be new leadership on the Board of Regents.

I did my research and came to the conclusion that I DO NOT want the four regents encumbents to be re-appointed. I sent the following email to my Assemblyperson, Sheldon Silver (Speaker) and Cathy Nolan (Chair of the Education Committee):

Dear Assm:
On Tuesday, March 11, at a joint legislative session, you will be asked to vote for four Regent board members.  I ask that you please attend this session on behalf of your constituents and vote NO to any incumbent that is re-nominated (Cea, Cottrell, Jackson, and Norwood).
Parents across New York State have expressed outrage at the Board of Regents’ failure to respond to the concerns of both parents and educators.  The incumbent Regent candidates have failed to take action to amend current policies or speak out against them.

Alternatively, I would ask that you vote into the Board of Regents the following candidates: Helen “Regina” Rose, Audrey Marie Baker, and Michael Reilly because they have experience in education, community work and are parents with children in the public school system.

I am a parent representative on the School Leadership Team at (Kxxx) and I am proud that we have worked so hard to push back against the developmentally inappropriate practices and mandates that have come down from the NYS Board of Regents, but I don’t want parents to have to fight for what’s right for children and teachers.

I want the NYS Board of Regents to do good work and make good policies that benefit children, families and teachers.

Thank you for representing the people of New York State.
Signed, (my name and address)

I strongly urge you to send an email and phone call to your legislators TODAY as well. They need to hear from parents about issues facing our children and schools.

 

You can find your NYS Assemblyperson here.
You can find your NYS Senator here.