Biography

Eric L. Mihelbergel was born in the city of Buffalo in 1974.  He grew up in the village of Kenmore, just north of Buffalo, and graduated from Kenmore West Senior High School in 1992.  In 1997, Eric graduated from the University of Buffalo with a degree in Physics and minor in education.  He married his sweetheart, Lisa, in 1996 and they currently reside in Tonawanda, NY, just north of the city of Buffalo, with their two children, Ava and Tessa. 

As his children began the school year in September of 2012, Eric noticed drastic changes in the classroom from the previous year.  The focus had shifted from student-centered learning to test-centered learning.  This raised a red flag and prompted him to begin researching this shift.  His research revealed that a major corporate takeover of education had begun right under the noses of every American. 

Over the past couple years, Eric has spent considerable time advocating for public education and student-centered learning.  He is one of the original founders of NYS Allies for Public Education, Western New Yorker's for Public Education, and NYS Refuse the Test.  Eric has personally helped hundreds of parents across the state of NY to fight high-stakes testing.  He is an avid public speaker on education issues including how to refuse NYS tests, and he has authored many articles and book chapters on those same subjects.  In the spring of 2013, 2014 and 2015 Eric successfully helped parents of 10,000, 60,000, and 220,000 students respectively coordinate the boycotting of NYS Common Core tests.

Eric's other passions including windsurfing, kitesurfing, snowboarding, and flyfishing.  When he is not advocating for children you will likely find him at the beach, on the slopes, or in the stream.