By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — With school budget cuts looming, education experts and community leaders plan to gather with parents Thursday evening at an education forum sponsored by State Sen. Adriano Espaillat.
The agenda for "Making The Grade - A Conversation on Education in NY State" features ample time for parents to pose questions and discuss issues with experts and decision makers in addition to presentations and a panel discussion, organizers said.
Planned topics include school funding, mayoral control, charter schools, core curriculum standards and the DOE’s "Last in, first out" (LIFO) policy.
Moderated by Clara Hemphill of InsideSchools.com, the panel is scheduled to include Michael Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT); Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents; Santiago Taveras, Deputy Chancellor of the city’s Department of Education (DOE); and Zakiyah Ansari from the education advocacy group Alliance for Quality Education.
District 6 Community Education Council (CEC) co-president Judith Amaro and District 3 CEC president Noah Gotbaum, will also attend along with District 3 President's Council president Michelle Lipkin.
"Making the Grade" will be held at Fort Washington Collegiate Church, 729 W. 181st St., near Fort Washington Avenue from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 24. For more information, call 212-544-0173 or email RSVP@adrianoespaillat.org.
