The next public hearing by the Governor’s Education Commission is Thursday, July 26 from 10am – 1pm at CUNY Hostos Community College, C-Cafeteria 450 Grand Concourse, C-Building, 3rd Floor, Bronx, NY 10451.
The rules are the same:
In order to sign up to testify, please send your full written testimony to NYEducationRefstormCommission@exec.ny.gov no later than 2 days before the hearing so that members of the Commission can review. Speakers are asked to summarize their testimony.
There is a great deal to be said for repetition. Doing things over and over again makes them automatic, without thought, you just do it. Experts have said that repetition is not a good way to learn. Our children are not given the opportunity to make learning automatic because throughout their education, repetition has been replaced by introduction, revisiting, and review.
Experience is the greatest teacher. Actually engaging oneself in a situation makes the scenario relevant and interesting, creating a lasting, long term memory of the event. Our children do not have the opportunity to enjoy positive experiences outside of the classroom for a myriad of reasons, too many students, not enough parental involvement, not enough money. Instead, our children can gain their personal experience through a SMARTBoard or iPad.
What is learning for the 21st Century? What should it look like? If we are not there to offer meaningful, experienced, expert, insight into what learning is and how it should be executed, then our children will be left to those who would treat them all the same by teaching them all the same way, making them think and respond in all the same way.
There was and is a great deal to be learned from the first hearing. A great deal more could and should be learned at the second. Change can only be accomplished if people are willing to move in a different direction.
In six days, six hours away, the Education Commission will listen to another group of people offer their views about how to fix education. Will we be there to support our position, our children?
Join the Movement to Save Our Children!
