Common Core Standards, State Aid Discussed At BOE Meeting

Beginning next year, there's going to be a new curriculum for area schools.

That's because the Massapequa school district will officially adopt the Common Core Learning Standards for their 2012-2013 school year to comply with a state mandate.

The Common Core program reflects the change in demand in recent years for middle and high-skilled workers in today's job market, and the necessity of adequately preparing high school students to meet the rigors of college in order to build the qualifications that employers are looking for these days.

According to a presentation given by Dr. Thomas J. Fasano at Thursday's Board of Education meeting, Common Core will essentially change the face of education not only in Massapequa, but eventually, the entire country.

"This will ultimately revise State standards for grade school education in regards to grade consistency, uniformity, and a further emphasis on college preparedness,” he said. “Our education will become more goal-oriented, and the goal will be to prepare our students to succeed in college without the need to remediation, to graduate on time, and succeed in college.”

Common Core will entail a more streamlined approach to both Math and English and Language Arts (ELA), with more rigorous content and focused instruction. The programs approaches learning from a more technical viewpoint, with the emphasis being on teaching children a deep-rooted understanding and creative approach to problem solving.

Fasano also pointed out that uniformity in education across the board, including using the same texts and lessons, has many benefits.

This program will make for smoother transitions for students who move within districts or across districts,” he said. “Also, districts and states and collaborate experiences and approaches to learning.”

As of present, Common Core has been adopted by 44 out of 50 U.S. states. The current plan is to roll the program out gradually starting next year, with full implementation expected by 2014-2015.

Common Core’s sister program, Partnership for Assessment for Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), which will be a common set of K-12 assessments in English and Math, is also in the cards, although it is not likely to be ready for states to administer until the 2014-2015 school year.

Superintendent Charles Sulc also delivered a report at the meeting, discussing Governor Andrew Cuomo's recent "State of the State" address. Despite the Governor's claim that State aid to most school districts would be increased over previous projections for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year, Sulc said that, for a variety of reasons, the increase would make little difference in the overall picture.

"I read in the news that there's to be an increase of about $632,000 in Massapequa, but we're not sure about the exact amount," he said. "However, there's a section of the Governor's proposal regarding pre-school and special education, which is usually picked up by the County, and the Governor has recommended that they shift a portion of those costs to the school districts because the County is sorely lacking in funds. We are expecting there will be some impact there."

"What you'll actually find, is that we really didn't get any additional money from the State," Sulc continued. "It's because of the hard work of this Board of Education and it's fiscal prudance by using programs such as BOCES to acquire different kinds of assets and programs, that most of the increase of aid proposed to us by the Governor is really coming to us as a result of those things, not because the State is giving us any additional aid in areas where we typically don't spend money."

In a lighter note, Sulc also praised the charitable deeds of students in the district this past year.

"There's ongoing evidence of the many community service activities our students are involved in," he said. "Our sports teams have fundraisers every year, Lockheart has one every year...this is something that's grown and grown in Massapequa over the years, and more and more of our kids are involved in those types of activities, doing wonderful things and giving back to the community."

Sulc rounded out his report by pointing out two recent national publications that featured articles on the Massapequa school district, in particular one that highlighted the district's status as a forerunner of the teleconference movement.

The Board also passed the official school calendar for 2012-2013, which contained several revisions to holiday placement and beginning/end dates for the school year. The calendar will be publicly released.

The next meeting of the Massapequa Board of Education is on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m.