Official Statement of the Badass Teachers Association Calling For Resignation of New York State Education Commissioner John King

The BadAss Teachers Association (BATs), on behalf of its 30,000 members, is hereby calling for the resignation of NYS Commissioner of Education John King.

On October 10th, The New York State PTA sponsored a forum on the Common Core in Poughkeepsie, New York.

NYSED Commissioner John King was the scheduled speaker and parents, teachers, and concerned community members gathered to have an opportunity to make their voices heard. Rather than getting time to make their points and state their concerns, the audience was relegated to a mere 23 minutes of commentary. The anger of the crowd was palpable.

Because the audience did not respond as per Mr. King’s dictatorial expectations, he and the PTA have cancelled all upcoming forums.

“I was looking forward to engaging in a dialogue with parents across the state. I was eagerly anticipating answering questions from parents about the Common Core and other reforms we’re moving ahead with in New York State. Unfortunately, the forums sponsored by the New York State PTA have been co-opted by special interests whose stated goal is to “dominate” the questions and manipulate the forum.”

Let us be clear: BATs represent no special interests other than children, teachers, and parents. Rather, it is Commissioner King who serves special interest groups, the most notable being Pearson, the company that produces most of the tests being administered in New York State

We are calling on all elected officials, including Governor Cuomo, the National, State, and Local PTAs, Union leadership, parents, teachers, and community members to join us in demanding that Commissioner King step down and resign immediately from his position of Commissioner of Education of the State of New York.