At State Education Chief John King's Forum at F-M, Just Sign In and Speak Up

By Paul Riede | priede@syracuse.com on December 02, 2013 at 12:26 PM, updated December 02, 2013 at 4:26 PM

Syracuse -- People attending Tuesday's public forum with state Education Commissioner John King at Fayetteville-Manlius High School won't need to pre-register or submit their questions in advance as they did at the forum at WCNY-TV last month.

They just have to show up and sign a sheet and they'll get their three minutes at the microphone on a first-come basis, Tiffany Latino, spokeswoman for state Sen. John DeFrancisco, said today.

Latino said King, DeFrancisco and other state officials will likely give brief statements at the beginning of the forum. Then the comments and questions will begin.

The event will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. in the auditorium of the high school at 8201 E. Seneca Turnpike, Manlius. Guests must enter through the auditorium entrance. Neither that entrance nor the parking lot will be open to forum participants until 2:30 p.m.

Latino said that in addition to DeFrancisco, Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, and Assemblymen Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse; Will Barclay, R-Pulaski; and Gary Finch, R-Springport, will be there. Assemblyman Al Stirpe, D-North Syracuse, is as yet unconfirmed, she said.

The forum at F-M is one of several forums across the state with King about the Common Core standards and other education issues. The series of forums was set up after the commissioner canceled an early schedule of appearances because of a raucous session in Poughkeepsie Oct. 10.

At previous sessions, including the one at WCNY, parents and educators have sharply criticized King and the state Board of Regents over the way the Common Core academic standards have been rolled out, the quality of the curriculum modules the state has offered teachers, the pressure of high-stakes testing, the use of those tests in teacher evaluations and the security of student data the state is collecting.

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