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Community Members Speaks Out About the Common Core to Lawmakers

WXXI News

Changes and challenges accompanied with the Common Core testing standards in schools was the focus of an education forum on Wednesday.

More than 100 parents, teachers and community member gathered at the Memorial Art Gallery to express their concerns about the new curriculum.

Donna Bennett is the mother of three children in the Canandaigua School District. She says her 3rd grade daughter comes home from school crying because she fails the pre-tests required with the Common Core.

"She's very, very upset coming home from school thinking that she's dumb because part of this is testing, testing, testing.”

Bennett says forums like the one on Wednesday should have been done well before the new education standard was put into practice.

"Signing off on something without doing research as to if the curriculum works, as to how much more money this is going to cost us as taxpayers to facilitate the testing and scoring,” Bennett explains. “There was no research. It was just blindly [done] - and not even asking the people."

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State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, and other minority conference members, hosted the education the event.

"This is an opportunity to maybe listen and learn some things. Not every politician has every answer to every question," says Assemblyman Mark Johns, of the 134th District.

Johns say the discussion of opinions, ideas and concerns will help lawmakers work to help strengthen education in New York.

The Rochester event is the 7th of several forums hosted by the minority conference across the state.

The next meeting is in New Hartford, NY on Monday, November 25.