ACTION ALERT: The following Board of Regents members have
terms that are set to expire, and we MUST affect the appointment process:
•
Christine Cea (Staten Island)
•
James Jackson (Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie,
Sullivan, Ulster)
•
James Cottrell (at-large)
•
Wade Norwood (at-large)
Never before has the Board of Regents
appointment process been held to public scrutiny. But this year WE WILL MAKE AN IMPACT. The interests of our children MUST be
represented by our elected NYS Assembly Members.
Here is what we all must do:
1.) Call and email:
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D) Phone: 212-312-1420 and speaker@assembly.state.ny.us Assem
Dem Maj Leader Joseph Morelle (D) Phone: 585-467-0410 and morellej@assembly.state.ny.us
2.) Call and email Assembly Education Committee
Chairpersons:
Deborah Glick (D) Phone:
212-674-5153 and 518-455-4818 glickd@assembly.state.ny.us
3.) Call and email each of the following Assembly
members:
To
affect Christine Cea appointment:
Matthew Titone (D) Phone:
718-442-9932 and 518-455-4677 titonem@assembly.state.ny.us
To
affect James Jackson appointment:
Aileen Gunther (D) Phone:
845-794-5807 and 518-455-5355 gunthea@assembly.state.ny.us
Keven Cahill (D) Phone:
845-338-9610 and 518-455-4436 cahillk@assembly.state.ny.us
To
affect James Cotrell appointment:
Deborah Glick (D) Phone:
212-674-5153 and 518-455-4818 glickd@assembly.state.ny.us
To
affect Wade Norwood appointment:
David Gantt (D) Phone:
585-454-3670 and 518-455-5606 ganttd@assembly.state.ny.us
Harry Bronson (D) Phone:
585-244-5255 and 518-455-4527 bronsonh@assembly.state.ny.us
4.) Tell them:
- There
are 4 Regents up for re-appointment
- You
demand the appointment of NEW Regents who support an immediate moratorium on Common
Core, high stakes testing, and data sharing
- The
public will hold NYS Assembly members accountable for their votes for or
against the appointment of the NYS Board of
Regents members.
Here is a sample letter to email that you can also use
as a script to guide you on the phone:
Dear__________________________________
This year 4 members of the Board
of Regents are up for re-appointment, Cea, Jackson, Cotrell, and Norwood. New candidates will be interviewed by the
Education Committees in February, and you will be voting on these
re-appointments in March of 2014. I am writing to let you know that I am very
concerned about the damaging effects of Regents Reform Agenda and that this
year, the public will hold NYS legislators accountable for their votes for or
against the appointment of individual Regents. Therefore, I am asking that you
support the appointment of new Regents who supports an immediate moratorium on
Common Core, high stakes testing, and the uploading of student information to
the inBloom cloud. The Regent’s Reform agenda in NYS is destroying public
education and violating student privacy. As an elected NYS legislator, you MUST
represent the interests of our children and the will of the people.
Sincerely,
Background Information on the NYS
Board of Regents:
Candidates wishing to apply to become a Board of Regents member
must send a resume to the Assembly Education and Higher Education Committees
before January 31. In-person interviews
are conducted by Assemblywomen Catherine Nolan and Debra Glick in
February. Legislators vote in early
March, but they are generally given one or two nominees to vote on, less than
24 hours before the election, that are selected by Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver. Although the public is told that
the entire legislation votes, in reality it is Sheldon Silver that
chooses. Many legislators abstain
because the process is so dysfunctional.
WE MUST CONTACT THE ELECTED OFFICIALS ABOVE SO THAT WE CAN INFLUENCE THE
BOARD OR REGENTS APPOINTMENTS.
The Regents preside over
the New York State Education Department and SUNY.
The Board consists of 17 members; 1 from each of the State's 13 judicial
districts and 4 members who serve at large.
The Board is headed by the Chancellor of the Board of Regents, Merryl
Tisch.
Those serving on the Board of Regents come from diverse backgrounds and
fields. Some are former educators but most are not.
The duties of the Board of Regents include: setting graduation
requirements, testing regimens and curriculum and approval of the State
Education Department's budget.
The regents are not paid
a salary and are not required to have any educational training or background.
Why is this
important?
The Board of Regents is responsible for the appointment of the Commissioner of Education. They also have the power to
replace the Commissioner of Education.
While Commissioner King may have
proposed the haphazard and incompetent implementation of the Common Core and
subsequent testing, The Board of Regents approved this rollout.
The process by which one becomes a regent is not widely
understood. Members of the NYS Assembly may nominate a potential regent. Their
appointment is confirmed by a joint vote of the legislature. The Democratic
Majority in the State Assembly currently controls the selection process.
Although a regent’s term expires after 5 years, historically a
current regent is automatically re-appointed and will serve until they resign
or retire.
The Board of Regents wields a
great deal of power, and they must be held responsible for their actions. Many
parents have appealed to individual Regents and asked for their support of
parent efforts to resist harmful education reforms. Likewise, powerful advocacy representing
parents, teachers and school administers have also appealed to the Board of
Regents but they are not listening.
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