I am pleased to add Michael A. Rossi, Jr., of Madison, New Jersey, to the honor roll as a hero of public education
Superintendent has served long and faithfully in the public schools. He is proud of his district. He is a career educator. He is a leader.
He is a hero for speaking out forcefully and publicly about he insane overload of “reforms” piled on the schools all at the same time: the new evaluations, the a common Core, the new assessments, just to name a few. Superintendent Rossi calls it “a train wreck.” He is right.
No organization can absorb so many untried changes of course, so many unproven experiments, without crashing.
At a certain point, one must wonder–as I do–whether the multitude of new tasks is intended to break the school system, to induce havoc, and to bring it to a halt. When state and federal leaders create chaos, Are they doing it to encourage parents to flee their community schools? Is this another way to promote the privatization they admire?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I think that is exactly what they are doing: tieing our hands behind our backs and throwing us in the pool to see if we can float.
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I wish he had also mentioned the fact that the standarized test are not a valid measure of student learning. Rather than just slow down the progression, let’s redirect how education needs to move.
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This all could be a nefarious plan, or just a cultural problem developing in America. People running things and designing systems overcomplicate them to the point that they grind to a halt. Examples being the financial system, the mortgage industry, and most recently the 787 which was four years late and is now grounded.
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But do notice that certain people profited mightily (big big bucks!) from the financial collapse, and the mortgage melt down. Just as some people are making big bucks destroying our public education system.
Coincidence? I think not!
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I could not be more thrilled to see this! New Jersey has a long list of committed teachers, parents, activists, and even students coming forward to protect and defend public education. The only thing we have been lacking is a strong Superintendent to give voice to the effect the current administration’s reforms are having on our schools.
My hat is off to Mr. Rossi, and it is with sincere gratitude that I thank him for coming forward to speak for teachers and students across this state. I also want to thank Madison’s Board of Education President, Mrs. Lisa Ellis, and Teacher’s Union President, Robert Grundfest for signing onto the statement that was delivered at the State Board of Education Meeting. What a powerful statement to make; all three entities working together to protect the quality of the education in their district from the onslaught of reform being imposed by the state.
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I stopped teaching in 2009 to spend time with my son (after eight years of public school teaching) and can definitely tell that so many things are different now, having returned to the public school classroom just three years later. In fact, I turned to reading this blog so I could figure out what in the world was making it all so different. (I teach in NC, a Race to the Top state).
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The man charged with leading the “reform” in New Jersey is Christopher Cerf. After his record in NYC and leading the for profit EDISON SCHOOLS into collapse, the public schools in NJ are getting exactly what the ALEC/BROAD\GATES\RHEE types want.
The above mentioned havoc is not merely incompetence, it is planned, purposeful and predictable.
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It’s a win-win for the guys at the top: pretend to make public schools more accountable, create havoc and then collect their money……it is so sad to watch this happening, but even sadder to realize the deformers have fooled too many.
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Improving education for our children is the stated mission, but all of us reading this blog know there is a hidden mission. Connecticut (now that we have Mr. Pryor from New Jersey) has a similar plan – new standards, new testing, new teacher evaluation, new observation protocols, new forms, more standardized test goal setting, new books, new technology, new teacher PD, less money for what we really need in our own darn school = guaranteed failure. So much being collected electronically which makes the Department of Ed’s changes to FERPA which allow the release of this information without parental consent to private organizations even more suspicious. I think our children and our schools have been sold out from under us, and we have pockets of visionaries who see that none of this is good for children, but we don’t have the mass to stop it.
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You have the mass to stop it.
Do you have the will to stop it?
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I have the will, but by no means the mass. I am in the position to work with teachers independently and not as an employee of a school system. Through that work, I have the freedom to share my ideas and we talk about the direction of education. The teachers all feel the same way about these reforms, but they have become the silent majority. They feel totally and utterly powerless, yet continue to make the best of it at every turn. And now for all their hard work, they will be rewarded with an evaluation based in large part on a standardized test score which has been the bane of their teaching existence for the last 10 years! Talk about a pressure-cooker of emotions!
Personally, I have taken on my own local district related to the relevance of particular program they picked in response to yet another Federal ergo State mandate. It took a while, but I finally got them to agree that what they were doing was experimental, and possibly harmful to the 10 and 11 year olds who participated.
I am working on a second issue but drumming up awareness, then understanding and finally action is very difficult because people and teachers are so incredibly stretched. Issues have become quite intricate, but have been given names that are hard to argue with. Who doesn’t want Education Reform? It must be good!
I truly think that if both parents and teachers unite to understand each and every one of these “Education Reforms” much like they did in Madison, CT, the light bulb would go off. They would understand they are experimental, do not meet the needs of most students and will have negative “unintended consequences.” I am open to any suggestions for building mass!
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Let’s see, Madison, NJ. Wealthy? Check. Segregated? Check. A considerable vested interest in keeping the applecart upright and continuing to have a big edge in attracting the most qualified and intelligent teachers? Check!
Yup, definitely honor roll material. Congratulations, Madison!
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Your point?
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FYI, Bob Grundfest, who contributed to Rossi’s statement as the president of the Madison Education Assn (the local teachers union), is a terrific blogger in his own right:
http://anjfarmer.blogspot.com/
Highly recommended!
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