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In Rain, 75 Teachers, Supporters

Rally Against Cuomo Reform Plan

Sally Halbert, a first-grade teacher at Otego Elementary, shares her view with a fellow rallier at Oneonta's Center Street School this afternoon. (Jim Kevlin/allotsego.com)
Sally Halbert, a first-grade teacher at Otego Elementary, shares her view with a fellow rallier at Oneonta’s Center Street School this afternoon. (Jim Kevlin/allotsego.com)
Unatego's Kevin Clark, who is joining the NYSUT staff, compared the fight against Cuomo's Common Core proposals to Martin Luther King Jr.'s fight against segregation.
Unatego’s Kevin Clark, who is joining the NYSUT staff, compared the fight against Cuomo’s Common Core proposals to Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight against segregation.

ONEONTA – Despite sometimes heavy rain, 75 teachers and their supporters rallied in front of the former Center Street School, now the Oneonta City School District headquarters, voicing antagonism toward Governor Cuomo’s Common Core proposed reforms.

The proposed reforms include linking teacher evaluations, and even firings, to success in Common Core testing in math and English.   And, if a school fails repeatedly to achieve Common Core minimums, Cuomo is seeking authority to allow the state to take them over.  He has asked the state Legislature to approve his proposals by April 1.

Kevin Clark, a Unatego Area teacher who is joining the NYSUT staff, keynoted the event, and his remarks tied the battle against Cuomo’s proposal to Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight against segregation.  “Our schools should not be closing because of economic hardship in our community while wealthier districts prosper,” Clark said.

Rally organizer Danielle Boudet, a Morris parent who is leading the Oneonta Area for Public Education group, said the turnout shows “we stand together to protect out schools.”  She said her group will continue to urge parents not to allow their children to participate in the Common Core tests, which will begin on April 16.

 

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