Walcott Event Disrupted by Protesters
8:17 p.m. | Updated Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott’s planned event to promote Parents as Partners week, and to discuss the new Common Core curriculum standards, was disrupted Tuesday night when he could not be heard over the din of protesters.
The meeting at the Seward Park High School at 350 Grand Street on the Lower East Side was to feature speakers and a question-and-answer session, according to the Department of Education’s news release.
But as soon as the meeting started, the chancellor was drowned out by about 200 protesters, some of whom were affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Others identified themselves as public school teachers and parents. Unable to be heard over the crowd, the speakers, some parents, and Education Department administrators were moved from the auditorium to classrooms upstairs. There, about 100 parents and teachers listened to presentations on the Common Core curriculum.
Police were blocking protesters from following the event participants. Many of the protesters remained in the auditorium, talking, but then dispersed by 7:45 p.m. after declaring victory and reaching consensus that it was time to go.
The protest was publicized as part of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations and participants handed out flyers
