PINE BUSH – At the Pine Bush Board of Education meeting on June 25, the public participation period brought out a number of educators and parents, primarily from Pine Bush Elementary School, with questions concerning the Common Core Standards, and Curriculum, and implementation of same.

Questions began with concerns over a resolution that was passed to the board at its June 11 meeting concerning the Common Core. Superintendent Steinberg and president of the board James Barrett explained that there had not been time to seriously consider the resolution yet. And Steinberg pointed to the absence of Roseanne Sullivan, seriously injured in a car accident two weeks ago.

"We need all seven members of the board to discuss this issue," the superintendent said.

Steinberg also noted that "this is a matter of state law. Children must still take tests."

Celeste Goff, a retired teacher, said that it was important to send a message to Albany over this matter.

Steinberg responded by saying that he was retiring but he would be attending one more meeting with state Commissioner for Education John King and that he planned to bring up several aspects of the Common Core, in particular the way it was implemented this past year.

Asked several times about the participation issue — if a large enough number of parents withhold their children from the testing, the school district's state aid may be compromised or even withheld— Steinberg said, "There has to be a 95 percent participation rate in the tests. Otherwise there can be a loss of aid. But look, we've been giving this test for 14 years. What's changed is that the testing is now a part of teacher evaluation."

Steinberg reiterated his view that the Common Core standards are a good thing, if they are developed and rolled out properly. He suggested that the district might compensate for the increase in state testing by reducing other tests.

"Some things we can control, others we can't," he said. "But we don't want to jeopardize our state aid by saying 'don't take the test.' We have to do what the state tells us. We live in New York, and our leaders want this."

Darlene Korpai, who has a child in Pine Bush Elementary, said that parents were just learning what the Common Core testing was going to mean. She predicted that many more parents would become upset once they understood what has happened.

Steinberg replied that the Common Core standards were a national standard, designed to make sure that education systems from Tennessee to Oregon, and New York to New Mexico, were all making the same kind of effort to educate young Americans. However, he also repeated a criticism of the implementation of the common core in New York, that "they are flying the plane while they're building it." He added, "The commissioner said at the beginning that test scores would be down substantially this year. We implored him not to do everything at once, but that was the route they took."

A question about Pearson Education, a giant publishing firm that sells Common Core curriculum materials in many states, brought an immediate response from Steinberg.

"We have not bought Pearson products," he said. "We received modules from the state. We have not been told we have to buy Pearson." A question concerning where all testing data will be sent also brought a quick response from Steinberg. "There are three data portals available to us, and the district can choose which one to use," he pointed out. "The state will pay for the first two years of data portal use, but then we have to pay for it. Be assured, we will make choices that are good for Pine Bush school district." Joan Carbone, who takes over as Superintendent next month, made another important point.

"A lot of this is about "Race to the Top" money [a Federal program instituted by the Obama Administration]," she noted. "But the money for that goes away next year."

Lloyd Greer, vice president of the school board, said, "People think the board has a lot of power but we don't. I urge everyone who wants to protest about this matter to join together and take it to Albany. The force of numbers is what will count."

Board member R.J. Smith proposed a different idea.

"The district needs to make excellence not mediocrity its goal. We don't have to worry about this testing," he said. "Let's take the pressure off our students and our teachers. Let our teachers do their work, and stress academic achievement, without being overly concerned about these particular tests. Our students don't need this pressure."

James Starr, board member, chimed in with, "Our hands are tied. Go to Albany and let them know that this is unacceptable."

Judith Pulver, board member, added, "I remember when the Regents tests were introduced. We had a similar set of concerns. That was 20 years ago. Before then we had local testing and diplomas, but now, nobody is concerned about the Regents diplomas. I think that five years from now this issue will not seem nearly as intense as it does now."