Education Commish To Visit Schroon

Schroon Lake parents will soon get an opportunity to express their concerns about the education system directly with state Education Commissioner John King.

According to a report from Syracuse.com, King’s visit to Schroon will be one of 12 forums across the state where he’ll meet with parents and educators to discuss the Common Core academic standards and other education policy moves.

King has cancelled four public forms following a contentious appearance in Poughkeepsie, reported Syracuse.com:

 “This time, the forums will be hosted by local state legislators, and King will be accompanied by members of the Board of Regents. The meetings will be held in school auditoriums.

The schedule for the forums has not yet been released, but they will begin in Albany Thursday and proceed over the next six weeks. Forums will take place in Syracuse, Rochester, Westchester, Schroon Lake, Binghamton, Amherst and Jamestown. There will be two each in Suffolk and Nassau counties on Long Island”.

In his statement about the forums, King said he is looking to have "a respectful, direct and constructive dialogue with parents. More and smaller discussions will make sure there's a real opportunity for parents to be heard."

King credits teachers for helping him surmount an isolated childhood as an orphan in Brooklyn, where his parents died from illness when he was 12-years-old.

He earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard, a law degree from Yale and a doctorate in education from Columbia. In between, he co-founded Roxbury Prep, a top charter middle school in Massachusetts; led Uncommon Schools, a network of charters based in New York; and married and had two daughters.