People began lining up in front of the Fiesta Hall in Jackson Heights, Queens, at least an hour early, some with their kids. Many had their phones out; there was a lot of live-Instagramming going on. Inside, it was standing-room only.

As passionately as parents feel about education, discussions of school policy rarely get such buzz. But last Saturday’s Education Town Hall, organized by Jackson Heights People for Public Schools, was special. In addition to panelists from Class Size Matters, NYC Opt Out, Network for Public Education, New York State Alliance for Bilingual Education, the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), and New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) — as well as newly-elected State Senators (and longtime education activists) John Liu, Jessica Ramos and Robert Jackson — we were expecting to hear from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Of course, everyone wanted to see the charismatic AOC in person and take a selfie with her, and why not? (We, too, were pretty excited to be seated only two rows away.) But more importantly, it wasn’t immediately clear what she would say in such a setting.