'Education summit' critical of New York's policies planned for Syracuse
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| Michael Gilbert, a school psychologist at Meachem Elementary in Syracuse, is organizing an "education summit" in Syracuse in October that will cast a critical eye on New York's education policies. (Ellen M. Blalock | eblalock@syracuse.com) |
Syracuse -- A psychologist in the Syracuse school district is organizing an "education summit" that will challenge New York's policies on high-stakes testing, teacher evaluations and other key issues.
Michael Gilbert, who works at Meachem Elementary, said the summit will be held at Onondaga Community College on Oct. 11 and 12.
The event is titled, "The Future of Public Education: A Critical View of Current Educational Policy and Future Directions."
Among the speakers will be Peter DeWitt, an elementary school principal in Averill Park who writes a column in the national publication Education Week, and Leoni Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters and a board member of the Network for Public Education.
Gilbert, who wrote a column for The Post-Standard in June about what he sees as the state's misguided direction on education, said the summit is sponsored by his small non-profit company, It's About Childhood and Family Inc. Other groups that are helping out are Change the Stakes, Class Size Matters, Opt-Out CNY and CNY Parents for Public Education -- not to be confused with Parents for Public Education of Syracuse.
Gilbert and his wife, Jessica Sicherman, who live in the Jamesville-DeWitt school district, were among a number of area parents who opted their children out of the state tests given in April.
Gilbert said the summit is intended to make parents more aware of the issues facing