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Date: 5/15/2015
AGAWAM – The group Agawam Parents for Children First will host a Common Core Community Forum on May 18. The purpose of the forum is to help educate parents about the Common Core State Standards, the organizer Michele Labonte-Veras said.
Labonte-Veras said a couple of city councilors requested some sort of forum to bring more information to the community in November, so she began working to put it together.
“I kind of started working and organizing parents to bring our concerns to the forefront,” Labonte-Veras said. “Along my journey, one thing that we wanted to do was let our new governor know that we are not happy with the standards that have been pushed onto our kids.”
Labonte-Veras said from her own experience, she has noticed the pace at which students are expected to grasp lessons and curriculum quicker under the Common Core. She said this ultimately limits teachers.
“I just think that our teachers need to get some freedom back in the classroom,” she said. “We have amazing teachers that have amazing ideas and they just don’t have the time or the freedom to experiment with different things in the class because of this rigor and the pace that has been set.”
Although Labonte-Veras said other communities have found a way to make the Common Core work in their school system, she said, “it’s not necessarily happening in our community.” While her end goal is to have a nonbinding referendum question about the Common Core on the next ballot, she said right now she and the other parents are focusing on educating the community.
“Back when I first started I had no idea the scope of what I was really undertaking. It’s so much bigger than I originally thought, and I don’t think parents really understand that,” Labonte-Veras said. “They just kind of see their kids frustrated over their math homework and not really understanding where the math is coming from, why they’re doing it, what they’re doing and who’s really calling the shots. [They don’t understand] that it’s the government and some other huge business that is really calling the shots.
“Our teachers don’t have any say in their classrooms any more. I mean, there’s creativity that’s been taken away from our teachers. Our teachers are just so fabulous and they have so much to give to our kids … I’m not blaming the teachers, not blaming the School Department. It’s just what they’ve been stuck with, and they’re trying to find their way through it too,” she continued.
Those who attend the forum will hear speakers from both sides of the hot button topic, including the Pioneer Institute’s Director of the Center for School Reform Jamie Gass, Professor of Education Reform emerita at the University of Arkansas Sandra Stotsky and Timothy Collins, the president of the Springfield Education Association.
Labonte-Veras said she hopes the forum provides an opportunity for the community to learn more about the Common Core and also a chance to make their voices heard.
“People need to have a voice. People need to be able to ask questions and be able to have an input, and no one was given a chance with this,” Labonte-Veras said. “Now we’re coming from the other end where we want to be heard, need to be heard and if people won’t to stand up for the kids’ education, who will? That’s what this is really about, standing up for your kids.”
The forum will take place on May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Agawam Senior Center. It is free and open to the public. For more information about the statewide efforts, visit CommonCoreForum.org.