Just minutes ago, I posted a strong letter from Superintendent Jeff Ramey, calling on parents and educators to support their schools and protest the budget cuts and tax caps that undermine them.
Carol Burris, an outstanding high school principal in Long Island, New York, responds here:
Superintendent Rabey,
I assure you, there are outraged New Yorkers all over our state.
Over 12,000 New Yorkers have signed the petition against high stakes testing http://roundtheinkwell.com/2012/12/29/petition-to-the-nys-board-of-regents-against-high-stakes-testing/ in two months. The Alliance for Quality Education has an Albany rally this month regarding funding. Over one third of all New York Principals signed a letter in opposition to APPR for the reasons that you mention. http://www.newyorkprincipals.org . The Niagara Regional PTA is proposing a resolution at the State PTA conference against high stakes testing. Schools Boards in Bedford and in New Paltz have passed their own resolutions.
The problem is that there is no state-wide coordinated effort and frankly a lack of courage to go beyond grumbling and resolutions into passive resistance and even active resistance. If you take your three key points–lack of funding, over testing, and state controlled teacher evaluations with test scores–and link them together, you have a powerful combination that many would support. Think about how much more funding there would be if all of the dollars going to testing and test prep and APPR went into classrooms in the schools that can no longer adequately serve their students?
I will hop on that bus anytime and I will bring others with me. In fact, you will have overwhelming support from principals and from rank and file teachers, though not necessarily from NYSUT, at least not on APPR.
Will you, however, get your colleagues to stop whispering their disgust at the Albany agenda and be willing to stand up against it?
Several years ago, death by lethal injection was brought to a halt in California, because anesthesiologists refused to participate. Courage, not compliance, is what is needed now.
Carol Burris
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I have written a book about all of these problems by using my own personal experiences as an educator for the purpose of getting the word out there, but I am terrible at promotion. I want people to read it and get fired up and really want to change the way things work. Do I send it to legislators? Media? It is so difficult to look at education and see that it can be better but feel so powerless to effect that change.
Hi Kelly:
I tweeted about your book to let others know and will read it:
I’m very interested in urban education reform in Oklahoma City where I live and my 3 children attend public schools.
Do you have social media accounts on twitter and Facebook for your book? Contact me via twitter and I’ll be glad to connect you with educational podcasters who could interview you (audio only) about your book, or I possibly could.
I’m eager to learn more about your perspectives and prescriptions on/for our urban schools. Thanks for sharing the link and title of your book here.
sometime in the future……
Several years ago, obsession with standardized testing, seriously flawed teacher evaluation systems, and the vilification of teachers and their unions was brought to a halt because teachers refused to participate. Courage, not compliance, is what is needed now.
Amen, Amen, Amen. I have tried to encourage my colleagues to have the courage of their own convictions and say, “Enough is enough, already.” I have kept them informed to the extent that I can through my own blog and Facebook regarding the action that the Garfield High School teachers are taking and the students in Rhode Island a couple of weeks ago. But they are so afraid to take action themselves. They need courage of their own, but it would be a tremendous boost if more superintendents would start to speak up as well.
When I was President of the VEA, I would tell people, “They can’t fire you all if you stick together and stand up for yourselves and your students.” But the fear among teachers in general is palpable. They have been subject to a slow form of torture which started out subtly enough that they have now gotten immune to their own pain and sense of outrage and they are too frightened or too beaten down to take meaningful action on their own behalf.
I used to think that perhaps the key was to get them outraged about what the system is doing to their students. Even that, however, doesn’t seem to be the impetus needed to get them to stand up and fight back against what is happening.
I keep hoping that a spark like what is happening in Washington state or Rhode Island or other efforts at meaningful resistance will create the real revolution that is needed to change things. Otherwise, I fear that one morning we are all going to wake up, the public school system in this country will be a thing of the past and the free market enterprise will be ruining schools and students the way they have managed to bungle the nation’s banks.
Once more, Diane, thank you for your continued diligence and perseverance in getting these messages of hope to people like me. I will continue to share them with my circle of friends and colleagues in hopes of doing my small part to spark the revolt that I think needs to take place…and soon.
Kitty J. Boitnott, Ph.D., NBCT
Past President
Virginia Education Association
Current Public School Advocate, Education Rabble Rouser, and General Malcontent
Kitty, it will happen. It is starting.
Diane
I’m not an optimist about too many things. But I think the tide may indeed be turning against NCLB, RTTT, and the general testing mania. That said, I think there has been so much work and money put into this stuff that shifting public sentiment won’t be able to stop it anytime soon. The big machinery has just begun whirring. Mayors, governors, the President, have staked their legacies on it. Companies have staked their growth on it. It will take many more years of bad policy and bad education before this train grinds to a halt, and in the end I think state budget constraints, not popular outcry, will be what stops it. When governments and companies commit so fully to a plan this big, they don’t change course just because a lot of people are saying it’s a horrible idea. They keep going until the money runs out.
And when the money runs out, the pressure on public education ramps up even more. We may look back on 2013 as the good old days. But like I said, I’m not an optimist about too many things.
Flerper,
And the shame is a generation of kids have been experimented on and those who knew best, their teachers, were ignored and demeaned. The parents were exploited.
What about those kids…maybe some are yours?
This is tragic…why do these people get to experiment on OUR kids.
Excellent letter, Carol Burris. My best to you as you attempt to convert words into actions.
We all need to be part of the action…..
It is becoming apparent that the governor, SED and the commissioner, and reformer/test/data companies have a working relationship that quietly dis-empowers public schools through mandate-heavy funding-light policy, then delivers the double-whammy by forcing them into a “judgement by (lousy, ineffective, invalid) tests”.
Middle and lower class families are being left in neighborhoods that don’t meet their needs, schools that can’t afford to meet their needs, and tests for the children that really do little more than identify that there are needs. The amazing educators that battle these forces to make academic gains are being disrespected, and the gains they make in other more immediate and vital areas (food, security, stability) are ignored because the responsibility for assisting with those needs falls on others who are refusing to address those needs.
There would definitely be support for action. The people causing the most stress and the most damage are insulated. They work together to position themselves for career and pay, using the lives, schools and futures of everyone else as an investment they can squeeze value out of-not build value into.
Can we just organize this national effort already? There are so many pockets of resistance – let’s just create a national organization group to link us all together. The time for us to link together is NOW. I am willing to work to make this happen – we need to channel the state level motivation, passion and dedication to this reform and expand it into a national movement. I believe there are enough of us to move this thing – but we need to start it now. Diane, what if we start a national facebook page for this specific purpose and invite all the state groups from across the country and their members to join? Thoughts? I am willing to spearhead if you think this is a good idea?
Sberk,
There is a new national organization being formed as I write these words. You will hear about it in the next week or two. It will be led by parents and educators and other supporters of public education. We have only begun to fight.
Diane
GREAT news, Diane. I will gladly sign on and continue to spread the word in NJ to my friends, family and colleagues. I have created a database of information to begin to bring educators up to speed. It is publicly available and loaded with tons of articles, videos, research, etc for a one-stop place for people to get educated. Everything is hyperlinked. It is my personal contribution to the effort. Maybe you can see a use for it in the national crusade.
http://www.mindmeister.com/261059915/shedding-light
In Solidarity,
Susan
Hooray! Can’t happen too soon, consolidate and coordinate all the teachers and parents disgusted with the corporate plunder of our pub schls.
Can’t wait to hear about this new national organization. This is real hope for the reform-weary.
My thoughts exactly, Carol! Once again, 2013, and the tests are being given (they start this week in Illinois). Come on, people–EVERYONE needs to refuse to give them–all across the country–EVERYONE! Parents need to Opt Out! High school students need to Opt Out! Are the Garfield H.S. Teachers the only brave ones? Note:
because of them, MAP stats were RUINED at that school–parents BACKED their teachers, and enough kids were opted out (300/400) to make a difference! {It’s been reported ONLY 97 students took the MAPs, so I guess some stayed home.) And–you administrators who were told to give the MAPs by the supt.–shame on you!
Now, some of you are going to write, “Easy for you to say–you’re retired!” But–I had been attempting to organize people for years to boycott the tests (especially through the state special ed. organization). PLEASE pay attention to Carol–for those of you who have time on your side, boycott testing THIS year, 2013. For those who don’t, PLEASE make it happen in 2014! Education organizations (AFT, NEA, ASCD, CEC, LDA, IDA, ALL individuals & organizations who signed the National Resolution on High Stakes Testing, etc.) the onus is on YOU!
After all, exactly WHAT school/district is going to make 100%?!
Sign me on!!! Retired, outraged, and willing to do more than grumble!!!
YES!!
Whoa! What a letter! Didn’t realize my administrators were feeling so impassioned. Thank God!
Can I just say that I notice Albany rallies are in the middle of the day!
Problem is when school is closed during breaks, the legislature leaves town and they are not around on the weekends….
National resolution version adopted by Rochester, NY School Board in September, 2012:Resolution No 2012-13:
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Resolution calling upon the New York State Education Department, the New York State Legislature, and the Governor to re-examine public school accountability systems and to develop a system based on multiple forms of assessment which do not require extensive standardized testing.
By Member of the Board Commissioner Elliott
WHEREAS, the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires that states develop and report on measures of student proficiency in English language arts, math, and on a third indicator; and
WHEREAS, in New York State (NYS), the third indicator is science at the elementary and middle school level and graduation rate at the secondary level; and
Board Meeting: September 27, 2012
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WHEREAS, performance on standardized tests determines whether students can graduate, and are also used to grade schools and to evaluate teachers and principals; and
WHEREAS, many advocates say that high-stakes testing causes unjustifiable stress for students, parents, teachers, and school administrators; and
WHEREAS, the NYS school system has been spending growing amounts of time, money, and energy on high-stakes standardized testing; and
WHEREAS, the over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing is undermining educational quality and equity in public schools by hindering educators’ efforts to focus on the broad range of learning experiences that promote innovation, creativity, and problem solving; and
WHEREAS, it is widely recognized that standardized testing is an inadequate and often unreliable measure of both student learning and educator effectiveness; and
WHEREAS, the over-emphasis on standardized testing has caused considerable collateral damage in too many schools, including the narrowing of the curriculum, teaching to the test, reducing the love of learning, driving excellent teachers out of the profession, and undermining school climate; and
WHEREAS, a nine-year study by the National Research Council has recently confirmed that the past decade’s emphasis on testing has yielded little learning progress; and
WHEREAS, high-stakes standardized testing has negative effects for students from all backgrounds, and especially for low-income students, English language learners, children of color, and those with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, research by NAEP shows that the negative effects of our high-stakes testing environment are perhaps most pronounced for English Language Learners for whom the tests were not designed, who cumulatively and consistently fail to achieve proficiency within the limited school time before they are required to take the exam in English; and
WHEREAS, the future well-being of our society relies on a high-quality public education system that prepares all students for college, careers, lifelong learning, and strengthens social as well as economic wellbeing; and
WHEREAS, developing a system based on multiple forms of assessment which does not require extensive standardized testing, would more accurately reflect the broad range of student learning; and
WHEREAS, the culture and structure of the educational systems in which students learn must change in order to foster an engaging school experience that promotes joy in learning, depth of thought, and breadth of knowledge for students; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Rochester City School District Board of Education calls upon the New York State Education Department, the New York State Legislature, and the Governor to
Board Meeting: September 27, 2012
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reexamine public school accountability systems and to develop a system based on multiple forms of assessment which do not require extensive standardized testing; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Rochester City School Board supports the performance-based assessment models used by alternative schools represented by the New York State Performance Standards Consortium which assesses student application of skills and knowledge to the real world; and be it further
RESOLVED, that this resolution be made available to any and all school reform advocates for use in their efforts to gain NY State recognition of alternative assessment models.
We have courage and that’s why we opt our kids out of high-stakes/standardized testing. Nearly a year ago, our district, Austin ISD, signed the Resolutions. Unfortunately, nothing has come of it. There has been absolutely no reduction in district-mandated practice testing.
Some of us have been fighting this testing and data battle for quite some time and have paid a heavy price like being hounded out of a district (with no help from the supposedly mighty NEA). In Missouri the whole “data driven decision making” started to be bantered about in the late 90’s and I have been fighting it since, albeit, on a local level. Hell, just got done getting my “summative” evaluation for the year and on the section of my “performance based teacher evaluation” on incorporating “data” I got a “basic” level with the comment being that “teacher doesn’t believe in using test data to improve practices” or something to that effect (I don’t have it in front of me). My response was, not exactly in these words but to the same effect, “no shit Sherlock”.
Can’t wait for next year when a new evaluation system is put into place (3rd in three years with the option that if it doesn’t “work” we will abandon it) that will somehow incorporate “student learning” in the teacher evaluation process. I haven’t been able to get anything out of the designer of the process as to what it’s going to be. I wrote in my “reflection” on my “individual development plan” that next year was going to be a boondoggle. My principal didn’t know what boondoggle meant. I told him it was a clusterF… and he understood.