After 2 Heated Forums, Final LI Education Event to Be Webcast

The last state education forum planned for Long Island will be streamed online, officials announced Thursday, following two consecutive forums this week that saw standing-room-only crowds lodge complaints and boos at state Education Commissioner John King over new mandates surrounding Common Core and high-stakes testing in schools.

The Nov. 26 forum, slated to take place at Eastport-South Manor High School, will be broadcast online on state Sen. Kenneth LaValle's official website, the politician said. LaValle, R-Port Jefferson, is hosting the forum.

Up 1,000 people are expected to fill the high school's auditorium to capacity at the event.

Tempers flew at this week's forums in Setauket and Mineola, where scores of parents came out to blast the commissioner for the aggressive rollout of new state mandates around Common Core curriculum, high-stakes testing and teacher and administrative ratings, with many claiming students are getting hurt in the process.

“We are abusing the children in the state of New York,” said Port Jefferson Station Parent Teacher Association president Beth Dimino at Tuesday's forum at Ward Melville High School. “You have awakened the mommies and you are in trouble. What’s going to happen is hundreds of thousands of mommies are going to fill out this form to refuse to take this test because the mommies in New York refuse to abuse their children.” Her statements went viral online the next day.

Though Mineola's forum was a bit more tame, frustrations still ran high.

"It seems that these tests are giving us more information on what our kids can't do, not what they can do," said parent Bridget McCormick at the Mineola High School event.

Both forums saw demonstrators gather outside to protest the new education mandates.

King, who is holding these forums across the state, has said he is taking the concerns seriously, but has not hinted at any policy changes.

The Nov. 26 forum kicks off at 6 p.m. and is scheduled to end at 8 p.m. Streaming will be hosted at http://www.senatorlavalle.com/.