*Correction to the August 20, 2013 post.
Commissioner John King will be at School of the Arts on Wednesday, August 28, 2013.

On Wednesday, August 28, 2013 parents, students, teachers, and community members will come together, at the School of the Arts, at 1:00 pm, to protest against the Common Core curriculum being imposed by the New York State Department of Education under the direction of Commissioner John King.

Parents object to the stress on their children and the time away from “real” learning.

Students object to the tediousness and irrelevance of the test.

Teachers object to the exorbitant amount of time taken away from “real” teaching in order to practice for the test, take the test, and review after the test.

And, community members object to the cost of testing to taxpayers with no benefit in return for students or teachers.

With nearly everyone objecting to the Common Core, how is it the State was able to legislate its use as a student assessment and teacher evaluation tool?

The entire community must understand that State legislators and NYSUT worked together to comply with Common Core edicts and in making them law.

States that resisted were given the option to apply for a one year waiver to comply and with the current uprising against the Common Core, there may be even more “back peddling” concerning its nationwide implementation.

It is vitally important that this community protest Commissioner King’s visit since parents, students, and teachers, the most important stakeholders in the educational process, were not invited to meet with and speak to King.

However, it is also vitally important to recognize that this must be the beginning of the battle.

All concerned stakeholders in education must come together to convince state legislators to repeal Common Core legislation.

All concerned stakeholders in education must come together to fight for the right of our children to be educated in a system where they are the focus and an excellent education is the goal.

We must come together to protest, we must work together to change the system of education.

Our children are not “common” and their education should not be “common” either.

Join the Movement to Save Our Children!