Assemblyman, South students talk politics

Although they’re not yet old enough to vote, students at Valley Stream South High School got an in-depth look at the decision-making process for a New York State representative when Assemblyman Brian Curran paid a visit on Sept. 18.

Seniors in three of Peter Mastrota’s government classes asked Curran questions and discussed many hot-button issues with the assemblyman, who was re-elected for his second term last November.

Curran, a Republican whose district includes some of the Valley Stream Central High School District, and large portions of Lynbrook, Rockville Centre and Baldwin, said he wanted to hear from the teenagers on issues that have been, or will be discussed in the Assembly.

“Remember, we can always disagree,” Curran told the room full of students. “The manner in which you disagree is the important part. You can actually just disagree on an issue and still put forth the reasons why… but you can be nice about it. And that’s what we’ve lost in politics.”

Curran implored the classes to not give up hope on their elected officials despite the partisan politics at the state and federal levels in recent years. “Somewhere along the lines,” he said, “I think both political parties forgot that their job is to solve problems and not just debate one another. That’s where we’ve kind of stopped, both on the state level and the federal level. They’re so busy fighting one another that they’re not solving anything.”

The group of predominantly 17 years olds had plenty of questions for Curran, including his thoughts on public assistance programs, federal immigration and education.

To compete in the global economy, Curran said, it’s important for expectations of students to rise, but he does not agree with the mandated state testing that took place in April. Educators and parents complained that students were being tested on material they were never taught, which was one of many gripes with the new system.

“I like the fact that we’re placing more expectations on you guys because I think that’s important,” Curran said. “But I also don’t think that it’s fair to actually make you guys undergo multi-day tests on information that you’ve never been taught.”