ELDRED, NY — Eldred Central School District Superintendent Robert Dufour said at the meeting on September 10 that he’d attended the Mid-Hudson School Study Council meeting. He reported that Judith Johnson and Beverly Ouderkirk, two members of New York Board of Regents, had attended the meeting, and that they dissent with the rest of the Regents about Common Core issues. Johnson and Ouderkirk and four of their colleagues voted against new regulations proposed by the New York State Education Department (SED) in June. The 11 other Regents voted in favor of the resolution. Dufour said Johnson and Ouderkirk indicated that “children seem to be lost in the equation” in implementing the Common Core education reform, and that the two would welcome input from all residents regarding the issue.

“They want everyone’s voice to be heard,” he added. “They indicated the implementation was too much, too soon.

“They encourage everyone to contact them directly, and the other Regents to voice their concerns over education issues to express their views. They care about kids and education, and they have the means of being heard, and if we express our views to them, they will definitely listen,” he concluded. Their email addresses are Regent.Ouderkirk@nysed.gov and Regent.Johnson@nysed.gov.

The Common Core standards that were adopted by the state five years ago are currently under review by two separate committees, one has members appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the other is a committee formed by SED. One of the changes adopted this year makes it easier for a district to put off evaluating teachers under Common Core testing for a full school year. In Common Core tests administered to children in grades three through eight this year, 20% of students opted out of taking the tests.

At the meeting, board member Brian Siegel said, “It’s incredible that it’s reached a point where Regents would acknowledge children have been lost in the equation.”

Later there were sharp exchanges between Dufour and Siegel about the corrections Siegel proposed to the minutes of the previous meeting. Dufour indicated Siegel implied in one proposed change the district administration was not open to hearing dissenting views from the teachers, or that they could not speak candidly, and he said firmly that was not the case. “It’s offensive,” he asserted.

Siegel acknowledged his corrections were poorly worded. He said he meant it was probably very difficult for some teachers to stand up in a meeting and state their opinions.

Dufour replied, “Our teachers are very vocal, and they are not by any definition shy.”

Maria Nealon, one of the teachers stood up, stating, “Mr. Dufour’s door has been always open to every single member of staff here since the implementation of the Common Core standards.”

Nealon continued, “If you ask anybody in this building, it’s not the standards that are the issue; it’s the implementation, and we have tweaked and tweaked and tweaked and come up with a curriculum that is child friendly, moving the kids into the direction that we need to move to. This administration has been nothing but supportive to the staff in implementing the Common Core.”

Siegel thanked her and said that’s the kind of feedback he wanted to hear, but probably there were many teachers that had different opinions. “I think it’s important to have an open discussion about a topic as important as this,” he said.

Nealon continued, “This administration has an open door policy. I’ve worked in many places but nowhere where I can sit and have a cup of coffee with the superintendent, and putting it out there that this administration has not been like that is not fair,” she added.

Siegel said his intention was not to imply that, but that it was important to encourage everyone to speak up, and that’s why the discussion and exploration by the board for the need for a public forum within the district was important.

After a discussion, members agreed to call Siegel’s proposed changes “a very rough draft.”