SHERBURNE – A team of parents, teachers and community members turned out to the Sherburne-Earlville Central School (SECS) Board of Education meeting on Monday to protest the newly implemented and increasingly controversial Common Core Curriculum, New York State’s latest attempt at education reform.

The group, self-dubbed the SECS Parent Advocate Group (PAG), took the spotlight during the public comment portion of Monday night’s meeting to warn school board members of the drawbacks and frequently unintentional repercussions they see in the Common Core. In addition, they asked the school board for its support in overturning the Common Core, which is being fully implemented across all subjects for the first time this year.

Although the mission of the Common Core is to make students college and career ready by making information relevant to the real world, the PAG says the negative implications of the Common Core have been overwhelming for parents, teachers and students alike who struggle to keep pace with the new standards. Many parents at the meeting said their child is being overtested and overworked while others said they feel disconnected from their child’s learning and their child’s needs are being brushed aside.