The Port TIMES RECORD Port Jefferson • Belle terre • Port Jefferson station • terrYVille
Volume 28, No. 21
April 23, 2015
$1.00
‘Strike a pose’ at the Heckscher
Also: ‘Violet’ opens at the SCPA, ‘The Littlest Pirate’ debuts at Theatre Three, singer/songwriter Johnny Cuomo
PAgE B1 Photos by Barbara Donlon
Protestors line North Country Road in Mount Sinai on Tuesday afternoon.
Parents, educators vow to remember Rally against NYS education changes BY BarBara Donlon
Run for hunger
Walkathon will help soup kitchen serve meals to needy neighbors
PAgE A7
Educators, parents and students gathered outside state Sen. Ken LaValle’s Mount Sinai office Tuesday with one clear message: They won’t forget he voted “yes” on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget when it’s their turn to vote in November 2016. Nearly 100 people rallied in front of the North Country Road office of LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), holding signs letting the senator and the community know they were upset he voted in favor of a portion of the 201516 state budget that amended the teacher evaluation system, lengthened the time before teachers can gain tenure and created new designations for failing schools. Beth Dimino, president of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association and a John F. Kennedy Middle School teacher, said her association and other
groups coordinated the protest to show the senator they don’t take his vote lightly. “The purpose of this rally is to remind Mr. LaValle that his vote in favor of Mr. Cuomo’s budget and anti-public education agenda will be remembered by the parents and taxpayers in the November elections,” Dimino said. LaValle, who was in Albany at the time of the protest, was just re-elected to his 20th term in the Senate and will be up for election again next year. He said in a statement Wednesday, “We improved on what the governor put in his budget proposal and I fully expect we will continue to fix the education piece, with the final result addressing parents and educators concerns.” April Quiggle, a Port Jefferson parent, said she came out to show how disappointed she PROTEST continued on page A9