Dr. Feirsen: We Welcome Commissioner King

Garden City superintendent of schools Dr. Robert Feirsen apologized to residents who were planning on attending a forum on the new Common Core standards earlier this month in Garden City.

The round table with New York State Education commissioner John King, which was open to all Nassau County residents, was to take place at Garden City High School Oct. 15. King, however, "suspended" the Garden City forum, along with three others across the state, after emotions ran high at the debut Town Hall in Poughkeepsie Oct. 10.

Dr. Feirsen received notification late Friday afternoon, Oct. 11, that the forum had been "suspended."

"Commissioner King did hold one meeting up in Poughkeepsie and he did not confront a friendly audience," he said. "We would love to have Commissioner King come down and hear our folks speak with him. I do apologize to those folks who had it on their calendars and intended to come. We were certainly ready to host him."

Dr. Feirsen said he stayed at the high school for approximately 30 minutes to make sure anybody who did come had some explanation as to why it was cancelled. Seven people, including one from Suffolk County, did show up.

Parents across the state blasted King, calling him a coward who couldn't face the criticism. Garden City Mom Maureen Strysko said the commissioner's actions "disgusted" her.

"Clearly he knew he was going to face the same sort of resistance from parents in this area and decided he did not have to deal with it so he cancelled," she said.

King, however, did an about face and has announced that he and the NYS Board of Regents will hold a dozen forums, including two each in Nassau and Suffolk counties, over the next six weeks. State legislators will moderate the events.

The first forum will be held in the Albany City School District Oct. 24. No word yet, however, on whether one will be held in Garden City.

King also intends on participating in PBS forums that will include a studio audience. The forums will be recorded for broadcast and will also be available on the web. Four PBS forums have been scheduled so far.

"I want to have a respectful, direct, and constructive dialogue with parents," King said in a statement on the NYS Education Department's website. "More and smaller discussions will make sure there's a real opportunity for parents to be heard. This is just the first round; we'll continue to schedule forums for parents."

King said he wants these round tables to be "regular events."

"We want the conversation to rise above all the noise and make sure parents understand the Common Core, and, just as important, we want to understand parents' concerns," he said. "We all share the same goal: to make sure our students have the skills and knowledge to be successful in a changing world."