Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) is disappointed by the continued closed-door approach of the Board of Regents in regard to education policy. Their approach was further demonstrated by the invite-only Teacher Evaluation Summit that will be held Thursday, May 7 in Albany. Blankenbush feels the last-minute, and only official, “public hearing” is disingenuous – considering that their plan must be in place by June 20.

“Over the past few years, the root of our education system’s biggest problems with the roll out of Common Core standards is the complete lack of openness during the process. Now, the door is shut yet again to the public in the process to implement the governor’s teacher evaluation changes,” said Blankenbush. “I emphatically encourage the Board of Regents to reconsider this tactic and look at how the rushed and closed-minded approach has worked for education policy of late. It couldn’t be clearer that the Achieving Pupil Preparedness and Launching Excellence (APPLE) Plan should be adopted now.”

Blankenbush was among the first round of Minority assembly members to raise concerns over mismanaged roll out of Common Core standards, including the governor’s recent so-called teacher evaluation reforms that were inserted in the state budget. When the Commissioner of the State Education Department refused to listen to the public, Blankenbush hosted a public hearing within his district that was open to all interested parties. From the series of 14 public hearings, the APPLE Plan, a set of legislative solutions that address Common Core, teacher evaluation, training and excellence, was developed.