NY Social Worker: Business Has Never Been Better Under Common Core

Tomorrow, November 26th, Dr. John King, the New York State Education Commissioner is holding a Community Forum at the Eastport-South Manor High School at Manorville, NY on Long Island from 6:00-8:00p.  Mary Calamia, a licensed clinical social worker in New York, requested the opportunity to present a statement on the record about the mental health ramifications of the Common Core on students that she sees in her office.

She was told that she could not make a public statement at that forum since she does not live in the Senate district where it is being held.

Below is the statement Ms. Calamia planned to read.

Statement for NYS Education Commissioner John King

My name is Mary Calamia and I am a licensed clinical social worker.  I want to thank you for bringing us the Common Core. Business has never been better.

If not for the Common Core, I would never have met the 8 year old who is so afraid of the Spring exams, she has to be medicated just to go to school.
Or the 4th grader who vomits every morning, certain that he is “the stupidest kid in the class.”

Or the lady who has to leave work early, her job in jeopardy, because her 7th grader becomes so hysterical over his homework, she fears for his safety.

Or the 6 year old boy who is scratching the skin off of his face, drawing blood every time he does his homework.

Or the 8 year old who picks his skin obsessively and has to go to school with band aids all over his face.

Or the honor student who carved the word “stupid” into her wrist with a razor blade after last year’s math assessment scores came out.

Without the Common Core, I would not be working 10 to 12 hours days without a break just to treat all of the young people streaming into my practice with anxiety, depression, self mutilation, panic attacks, insomnia, school refusal, and a host of other maladies.

I thank you for the emergency phone calls at all hours of the night and the countless interrupted meals, leisure activities, and family occasions when I have had to address a “homework meltdown” that could not be resolved without professional intervention.

How many more children will you send my way? How far do you plan to go with this disaster that you call “education” but more closely resembles child endangerment? How desperate are you to be right? What will it take for you to do the right thing?

Below is a video of Ms. Calamia testifying at an earlier forum on Common Core in Suffolk County in New York.