Updated: Assembly District 20 Candidates to Debate School Issues Monday

Editor's note: The education forum is still scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. However, due to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg will not be in attendance.

This story was written by Stephen Bronner.

Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) and Republican challenger Dr. David Sussman will debate education issues at the Lawrence Middle School on Monday.

The candidates are in a race for the 20th Assembly District — which covers the entire Long Beach barrier island, Five Towns, Oceanside, Island Park and parts of East Rockaway and Valley Stream — and both have experience in education. Weisenberg is a former teacher and school administrator, while Sussman has sat on the Lawerance Board of Education for the past 17 years.  

Topics of the debate will include unfunded mandates, tenure, budget caps, educational reform with technology, the Triborough Amendment, state testing, competitive bidding and preferred source vendors, according to the Lawrence Central Council PTA. The council and the League of Women Voters worked jointly to put the debate together.

Weisenberg is a lifelong Long Beach resident and was first elected to the assembly in 1989. Sussman, who grew up in Cedarhurst and lives in Lawrence, is making his first run at an assembly seat. 

The debate is set to start at 7 p.m., with time for questions from the audience.

What question would you like to ask the candidates?

•  Oct. 17 at 8:15 p.m. @ the Hewlett-Woodmere Library.
• Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. @ the Long Beach Library.
• Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. @ the Oceanside Democratic Club, 55 Fairview Ave. (Lutheran Church Hall) Oceanside.
  
• Oct. 30 at 7:00 p.m. @ the Island Park Library.