What lessons do we teach young people about government when they see the lies told about their schools and their teachers by public officials? Are we teaching them that elected officials can say anything at all, with no regard for truth or reality?
This is a letter from a high school student in Florida. Please read it. She makes more sense than the deciders in DC and Tallahassee or the pundits.
Esther, don’t give up hope. We need your good sense to turn this nation and your state around.
She writes:
I am a high school student who attends a public school in Seminole County and I applaud you for this blog. This past year especially I have felt as if every other second I’m being force-fed a meaningless statistic about how wonderful the education is in Florida and how we are excelling by leaps and bounds, while I watch teachers and students alike suffer the consequences of these careless political decisions.
Our school’s media center is also a “Hub for Technology” computer lab to be used by teachers for testing, and 124 out of the 180 school days it is being used for just that – PERT, EOC, FCAT, AP, SAT, ACT, semester exams – when are teachers supposed to have the time to teach? We worry about budget cuts (to an already laughable budget), but while faculty and staff are being laid off and programs cut, the money is being handed away to test makers. These tests give us meaningless figures to show everyone we can that we’re “progressing” but personally I believe we are regressing.
And the evaluation systems for both teachers AND students are so ridiculous, it’s as if the public school system is a parody of itself. The pressure a teacher is put under to have all of the correct phrases, learning goals, and “percentile gain” methods on display in their classrooms; I honestly don’t know how they manage to do it. Stopping to have every high school student hold up a hand gesture and gauge their understanding on a lesson every time one is taught, just because these Marzano techniques were highly effective in ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS is, to me, insane.
I don’t even know what to do about any of this either aside from hope that someone with power, someone with common sense, someone with a love of EDUCATION, realizes what is going on and decides to take action. Because seeing my teachers crumpling under stress due to the greed of heartless politicians is something that I can hardly stomach.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Wow the writer of that post is no slouch. A more superficial view wouldn’t have made that particular criticism of Marzano and elementary school or described the system as a parody of itself.
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Marzano is one of the edupreneur whores.
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Nicely said!
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Esther, Thank you for your concern for teachers. I think you could apply most of what you think to elementary schools, as well. We need to stop the madness. You are right. Don’t give up. Get through high school and do something to help change things. There is a group Students United for Public Education. Contact them at: StudentsUnitedforPublicEdu SUPE
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It’s so good to hear from the students like you, Esther. Thank you for validating your teachers.
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Great student…exceptional post! Yeah….
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This letter should be sent to every newspaper in America! President Obama and Arne Duncan, are you listening? Do you feel any responsibility for destroying the hearts and spirits of students? Do you remember your own high school days? Do you remember educators who shared your daily life? If you have forgotten, yes, kids do connect with teachers and they do see what is happening. Do you?
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The elementary teachers strongly dislike many of the Marzano methods as well.
It’s another example of “one size fits all.”
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“This past year especially I have felt as if every other second I’m being force-fed a meaningless statistic about how wonderful the education is in Florida and how we are excelling by leaps and bounds, while I watch teachers and students alike suffer the consequences of these careless political decisions.”
Anyone else thinking of ANIMAL FARM?
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As a laid off teacher from Seminole County, I say “thank you”. I would love to REALLY teach in Seminole County, but I don’t want to be hired to do test prep for students who really need to be learning to do critical thinking. Seminole County really does have some excellent, experienced and caring teachers. Unfortunately the new hires like me are generally hired to do the test prep jobs. I couldn’t make such a curriculum seem meaningful beyond “you have to do this to pass FCAT and to graduate.”
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Thank you, Dear Student~
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