Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R-Black River) is disappointed by what he believes is “the continued closed door approach of the Board of Regents in regard to education policy,” according to a statement from his office.

The assemblyman, who represents southwestern St. Lawrence County, said his belief was reinforced “by the invite-only Teacher Evaluation Summit that will be held Thursday, May 7 in Albany,” the statement said. “Blankenbush feels the last minute, and only official, ‘public hearing’ is disingenuous – considering that their plan must be in place by June 20.”

“Over the past few years, the root of our educational system’s biggest problems with the roll out of Common Core standards is the complete lack of openness during the process,” the assemblyman is quoted as saying in the press release.

“Now the door is shut yet again to the public in the process to implement the governor’s teacher evaluation changes,” he said. “I emphatically encourage the Board of Regents to reconsider this tactic and look at how the rushed and closed-minded approach has worked for education policy of late. It couldn’t be clearer that the Achieving Pupil Preparedness and Launching Excellence (APPLE) Plan should be adopted now.”

The Assembly Republicans’ APPLE Plan, developed after 14 public hearings, is a set of legislative ideas to address Common Core, teacher evaluation, training and excellence.