Education chief questioned about state policies

Walt Whitman High School senior Alexandra O'Toole had a message Thursday for the state's top education official: Unfunded government mandates have created "crushing burdens" for students and teachers, she told Commissioner John B. King Jr. at a school assembly.

The Huntington Station campus was one stop on King's back-to-school Long Island tour. While greeted warmly at each place, he faced tough questions about reform measures and the tax cap imposed by the state in the 2011-12 school year.

O'Toole, 17 and the assistant to the senior class faculty adviser, said students have to take too many tests and "are paying a tremendous price in order to collect data." Such information might help in years to come, she said, but "right now it is taking up our resources, leaving us, in turn, less college- and career-ready."

King replied, "Assessments are part of the educational process." The key is to make tests as valuable as possible, he said.

"We have to make sure assessments reflect our aspirations," he told O'Toole, who was on a six-member panel questioning the commissioner.

Dennis Callahan, president of the South Huntington Teachers Association, told King that he applauds the commissioner's efforts to reform failing schools. But he said mandates apply to all districts, perhaps unfairly.

"South Huntington is not a failing school, and yet we are being asked to modify our practices as if we are," he said. "Would you be open to proposing a system that lifts the testing burden on students in a school, such as South Huntington, where test scores and graduation rates already far exceed the state average?"

King said all public education institutions should have common goals and measures of effectiveness. What's critical, he said, is that students get "rich instruction" to help them succeed on tests and academically overall.

Later, Callahan said the state's controversial new teacher and principal evaluation system requires schools to test students at the start of the school year so administrators can better measure their progress over time. He said there is no need to "humiliate students" by pointing out what they don't know.

The problem, Callahan said, is that "we are treating all schools as if they are in need of improvement."