Teachers Head to Albany To Rally For Students, Education

A contingent of Riverhead educators will head to Albany next month to raise their voices about the future of education -- and to advocate for students.

The Riverhead Central Teachers Association will have two buses heading to Albany for "Rally for the Future of Public Education" to be held at the New York State Capitol on June 8.

"It is time to turn up the volume and raise our voice," said Donna Verbeck, New York State United Teachers/American Federation of Teachers delegate.

Jamesport resident and Roanoke Avenue Elementary School literacy specialist Georgette Keller plans to be on the bus to the "one voice together" rally for students.

"The direction education funding is taking is pitiful," she said.

Keller, who works with first through fourth graders, also spends time teaching students who might not be "moving along the literacy acquisition road as well as they should."

Those students who might need extra time work with Keller and three other teachers in a small group setting so that teachers can assess the situation and foster learning. 

"And now I have to forfeit approximately 10 percent of my teaching time for testing scores that they are using to evaluate students and teachers," Keller said. "My teaching is way beyond some test score. You can't test for love, compassion, or creating a warm, safe, respectful environment for a self-aware student to take risks and make mistakes they can learn from. You can't test for the the trust that a child has when he calls you 'Mom' by accident. It's not fair to teachers and if the testing isn't used to do something more or better for the students being tested, then it's not in their best interest -- at all."

Keller added that the mandates are put forth without funding to even cover the cost of the tests.

For more information on the rally, click here.