The Tennessee legislation to cut welfare benefits for families if kids don’t raise their test scores was passed by the committee and now goes to the House Government Operations Committee. It is scheduled for a vote in the State Senate on April 4.
If adopted, Tennessee will let the starving begin.
Will President Obama denounce this dreadful legislation? Will Secretary Duncan? Will DFER? Will Bill Gates?
Where are the reformers who put students first?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Maybe this will force parents to take responsibility for their child. Just because you are poor and receive welfare , it does not mean you have to act the “oh, whoa is me” and dumb yourself down. I was a recipient of the welfare system and anyone can achieve with good parental guidance.
Suzanne, will Tennessee raise taxes on rich families if their kids get low scores? No excuses!
Or is this law just for poor, mainly black families?
I work in the urban area I grew up in. Too many use poverty as an excuse, but I had a single parent who valued education and demanded results, not in an abusive way , but rather a respected way to honor yourself
Jersey has taken away all responsibility from parent. Our children receive aid free breakfast lunch snack. They throw have the stuff away. My taxes are high
No, Suzannr, it only makes it that much less possible for parents to take responsibility. But then, I don’t expect small, cold, mean people like you to understand that.
Jersey has taken away all responsibility from parent. Our children receive aid free breakfast lunch snack. They throw have the stuff away. My taxes are high
No I am not mean or cold…small, yes. I was on my phone and didn’t think it was posted. My apologies.
I’m sure fortunate that the welfare system was there for me and my family growing up. But at the same time I am proud and continue to push my students to take advantage of all educational opportunities.
Suzannr:
With all due respect to what you and your mother accomplished, please read this article about the Horatio Alger Myth, which talks about the myth you indirectly refer to: “pulling oneself up by your own bootstraps”. In particular, read what Harlon L. Dalton says in this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Alger_myth
Just because you and your mother were able to “achieve”, does not mean that everyone can too.
“Too many” of whom or what uses poverty as an excuse? I suppose how one defines poverty would shape ones argument. Poverty is a pretty broad term. I have a hunch that the differences in opinions going on here might be closely related to the different perceptions of poverty we have.
What is completely undeniable is the strong correlation you will find between poverty as measured by economically disadvantaged students and performance on standardized tests, new state report card scores, graduation rates, etc. Naysayers will almost instantly counter with the old “throwing money at the problem isn’t going to fix it.” I agree readily with that statement because poverty is far more complex than $.
Another undeniable truth is that people in poverty exeperience far more life stressors than their more affluent counterparts and for sustained periods of time. Stressors casue stress. Stress breaks your body, your brain, your heart, etc. It is the true silent killer. Neuroscience demonstrates strong evidence that the brains of people in poverty develop differently than those more affluent.
So, not having money does not cause poor school performance. Not having money tends to be closely associated with the advers effects of poverty such as depression, ptsd, learning disabilities, legal trouble, lower iq, hunger, homelessness, etc. As a result it is illogical to think that throwing money at the problem will fix it because it is not poverty itself that causes poor performace in school. It is the comorbidity of the associated negative effects of poverty. Based on the assumption that throwing money at the problem doesn’t work, it is extremely logical to conclude that witholding money from the problem will work either.
Where money might help the problem is if we would get off of the obsession with data and test scores and instead address the emotional, social, psychological needs of people in poverty. The data and research paints a pretty clear picture that people in poverty have different needs than people not in poverty. If we don’t meet these needs, why would we expect results? If you believe a guy named Maslow had a good theory back in 1943 about the hierarchy of needs being met, then you would understand that trying to improve school performance of people in poverty is far more challenging than affluent people.
This of course brings us back to the case of the person who professes that they grew up in poverty but didn’t let it ruin them. Well, statistically you will always find outliers. We all know someone who lived until their 90s and smoked, drank, ate bacon and eggs everday, etc. Outliers happen, which is why disregard them in statistical analysis usually. They skew the data and our understanding. Let’s understand poverty and its effects and not be skewed.
Woe is me. Not whoa is me. You are not a horse.
The real problem is that test scores have no statistical correlation to each other. I have been chanting this mantra for years! There are far too many independent variables between different cohorts of students for there to be any correlation. The reformers know this but they continue to perpetuate the myth. This is particularly true in states where the tests do not reflect any district curriculum, as in Connecticut.
Please consider that the only way to show whether any growth or regression has taken place is by measuring each student against themselves, not against other students. This would require that each student take several tests spread out over time. But, the reformers are playing a shell game by attempting to show student and school growth by taking one set of scores and subtracting another. The two sets of numbers have nothing to do with each other. They are fully aware of their scam but are counting on a general ignorance of statistical methodologies by both the general populace and the political leadership.
Juvenile poverty’s bite is deep in Tennessee – WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports
Nov. 30, 2011:
New census data released this week found a surge in the number of school-age children living in poverty. Tennessee registered one of the highest rates of school district-level poverty in the nation.
At Maplewood High School in Nashville, the family resource center director, Joy Pillow-Jones, told The Tennessean that the plight of students is as bad as she has ever seen. Maplewood served a Thanksgiving Day meal.
Across Middle Tennessee, children are coming to school hungry and worried and without winter coats. Their parents have lost their jobs or lost their homes…
Union County registered one of the highest childhood poverty rates in the nation – 40 percent of school-age children live in poverty in the rural East Tennessee county.
http://www.wbir.com/rss/article/193583/2/Poverty-surges-among-TN-kids
Jersey has taken away all responsibility from parent. Our children receive aid free breakfast lunch snack. They throw have the stuff away. My taxes are high
Was this so profound that you needed to post it three times? Or are you really just that small, cold and mean?
i’m thinking jersey should focus on teaching their students the basics of written communication such as spelling, grammar and punctuation. i sincerely hope you’re not an educator
Thank you for your post. I just can’t believe that people in this country have no idea about the high rate of child poverty right here staring us in the face.
It seems as if the reforms just get worst and worst……….the quest to push their senseless money making has become criminal and relentless.
Parents need to be held accountable for their part in a child’s failure in school, but this is not the way. Have we forgotten about the benefits to positive reinforcement?
True.
As a teacher I hate to agree with the legislation, but I do. Many of my students who are poor performing are from poverty and they don’t care about their education because no one at home does. We’ve actually been told by parents their children are our problem from 8 to 3; they aren’t going to come to school and deal with the issues. If my job depends on their test scores; then I want there to be consequences for the parents who aren’t doing their part. It will be depriving my family of food and shelter if my job is taken away because of my students’ test scores!
I don’t think the answer to childhood poverty is to punish poor kids even more than fate has already punished them.
Homelessness solves the problem of parenting issues how?
The VAM is wrong but can’t be fixed with another wrong!
Teaching poverty level kids is hard work. Find an easier school if you can’t help these k
From the guardian.co.uk:
“The Finnish education system contrasts sharply with England. Every Finnish child gets a free school meal, and a free education, which extends to university level.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/05/finland-schools-curriculum-teaching
Wow, every child, rich or poor, gets a free school meal and Finland has a childhood poverty rate of about 4% – 5 %. The US chldhood poverty rate is about 22% and some states want to punish poor kids even more. Why do we hate poor people so much in this country?
Excellent post, Joe. We hate poor people in this country, because after all many Americans still think we are #1, and the HUGE things we are #1 at are: 1. having a horrible election system that is ridiculous, 2. having big business in collusion with government to purchase laws that benefit the rich, and 3. blame teachers (rather than the politicians) for the ills of society. It’s time to stop this nonsense.
I think it is because we don’t want to admit to ourselves way, way deep down inside, that poverty has no single cause, no one type of personal behavior that causes it, all walks of people end up living in poverty and our feelings of being better or harder working or more responsible then poor people is our mantra we think will save us from ending up like them.
Thank you for the link.
This legislation does nothing to help children. Does anyone believe a disengaged parent will spontaneously tranform into a supermom or superdad when their benefits are cut because little Johnny has low test scores? Legislation like this insults the intelligence of every citizen.
That is my thought too. If we really believe these parents don’t care about their child’s education, then what makes us think they will sacrifice for that child if they lose money? Also, we need to remember that it in many cases the parents can’t help. School was hard for them and they don’t have the ability to help. Sometimes they don’t help because it is easier than admitting that they can’t. The work is much harder now too. My son is a high school senior and he helped give a 6th grade standard test (he read to special ed students-not the state test) and they covered material that he never saw until high school. He is an Honor student. What if the student just had a bad day or was sick during testing? We rightly resent being accountable for that. Don’t you think they might too? There is so much wrong with this that I could go on for hours, but most of know that so I will spare us all that.
I believe the comment below will easily get him re-elected. Many of his constituents/voters agree with him even though it will affect many in his small, rural town.
“Rep. Barry Doss, R-Leoma, said it was OK with him if children go hungry for a little while if it makes them buckle down with those books.
“I am more concerned about the child starving for a lifetime than I am for a few days because if these children don’t get an education and the parents are not going to be responsible, then they are going to be burdened for a lifetime,” he said.”
“Rep. Barry Doss, R-Leoma, said it was OK with him if children go hungry for a little while if it makes them buckle down with those books.
Do you wanna bet this creep considers himself a Christian?
“The bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Vance Dennis, R-Savannah, said the bill as amended would apply only to the “worst of the worst” parents. The bill does not apply when a child has a learning disability or a physical handicap. As amended, it also allows the penalty to be avoided if the parent attends two parent-teacher conferences, attends an eight-hour parenting class, arranges tutoring or enrolls the child in summer school.”
I would hate to be the teacher in those conferences! Can you imagine the damage and pain caused, even the danger for the child if the state says: “Mrs. Smith we know you and your family are going through some really rough times but if your child doesn’t get better grades you and your family will lose your welfare check!”
The emotional devastation for a child who feels they caused or is blamed for the family losing their welfare check???
Starve some, not all.
So compassionate!
Free breakfasts, and snacks are a great idea, afterall one’s brain will not function properly when one is hungry. However, the quality of the food being served is also an issue. Most likely these “charitable” meals, are of little nutritional value, and undoubtedly sourced by GMOs. Fresh, poison free meals would probably produce better long term results.
Jersey school lunches are nutritious and bountiful. Our tax dollars pay for it and that is great. One if the issues here is the connection with testing and money. It is a shell game, abuse of power but like many if us our increments and jib ratings are now tied to testing. Starving any child us not the answer and I know that.
I do get your frustration. We are held so accountable when we do only have them for 6 or 7 hours a day in which we are supposed to teach them things they are not developmentally ready for learning.
looks like it was moved to 4/11/13 on the senate calendar
Yes, the Dickens bill was moved to 4/11
I’m sickened by this. It’s so Dickensonian and so utterly ridiculous. What is accomplished by punishing the children in an entire family because one child isn’t doing well in school due to any number of reasons–including undiagnosed or untreated learning disabilities which are more common among low-achievers?
How much you want to benefit the Tennessee legislators most in favor of this also have the largest waistlines? Can we start starving them so they stop contributing to poor health outcomes in their state and driving up health care costs? Ditto for everyone that supports them. (And no, don’t start shouting that you’re not “really” overweight. This is a no-excuses culture and the scale says 2/3rd of you fail. We don’t care about your genetics or inability to exercise due to surgery or health problems. If we’re going to punish kids in school for not doing well on a math test, might as well expand the concept to all those expanding adult waistlines, ’cause if I can run 30 miles a week and never have had a problem with my weight, it’s clearly because I’ve made all the right decisions, eat right, exercise right and I don’t see why anyone else can’t….)
Sigh. I’m crossing my fingers that this is another ridiculous bill that doesn’t have a chance of passing or else that will immediately be challenged in court. What an awful situation.
Oops–that second paragraph should have been “bet” not “benefit.” It’s the hazard of typing when I’m really upset.
very well said. can we tie health insurance premiums to benefit those with healthier lifestyles?
Shoot the wounded.
@ confused, who gets to document if the parents attended the conferences. Who teaches the 8-hour attends an eight-hour parenting classes? If the parent can arrange and/or afford tutoring they would already be doing it. Unfortuately neither sponsor of this bill realize that most systems in TN don’t have summer school.
This bill creates work and lots more paperwork for teachers. Smart ones, who are already doing a ton to help their students, will ensure their students make academic progress.
I don’t agree that if parents can afford it they would already be doing it. My school offers a free after school program that offers tutoring for children as an intervention to help get them to grade level. Many parents put their children in the program at the beginning of the year based off a recommendation of the teacher. Many of these children (5 to 10 year olds) drop out after a couple weeks. When we ask the parents why they respond that their child doesn’t want to be in tutoring because they want to play. We are talking about children who are significantly below grade level. There are many out there who just don’t want to be held accountable for their bad parenting and they’re more concerned about hurting their child’s feelings then they are being a parent. You’re raising a child, act like a parent and do what’s best for your child. Be responsible and don’t blame others.
Perhaps parents of 5-10 year olds know that in the long term playing is better education than test prep.
Exactly, Megan. Tutoring programs that genuinely focus on children’s development, rather than raising test scores, make learning fun, not drill for skill. Kids know the difference. It’s good that their parents are listening to them. Too bad the tutoring programs aren’t.
If the state is going to devote funds to parent training, that should be a preventative program, not punitive.
Families on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in this state are already subjected to a 20% loss of benefits if their kids don’t show up to school, so with this measure, it can become a 50% loss. There is a restriction to receiving TANF for a total of 60 months in a lifetime, and there are work and/or school requirements to be eligible, so we’re not talking about lifelong “welfare queens” lounging at home every day.
This is not about food, because Food Stamps are another program with different eligibility requirements. It’s about cash assistance to help pay for shelter, clothing, etc. So these families could lose the income they need to pay the rent and they could become homeless…
This is thoroughly disgusting.
This is the comment I have been looking for!!!
Both of you are EXACTLY CORRECT!!!
I am one of these “outliers.” I grew up in foster care, and could not read until I was 14. I was pimped out and beaten nearly everywhere I was shifted to. My life changed when a wonderful family took me in, gave me a safe place to live, made sure I knew I would be fed and clothed, and loved my like their own children. They taught me to be a human being so my teachers could begin to teach me to be a good student. Both of my parents had been teachers before changing careers, they knew all of my teachers, and I became the family reclamation project. I would not have done well if I had been left in adverse impoverished conditions. All of my friends from my youth wound up dead or in jail before they were 20. By God’s grace and some loving people I became an athlete, a college graduate, a soldier, and now a teacher and father. The school could not have done this alone. I know what dog food tastes like! Susan, examine yourself further and develop some empathy. It will do you good and make you grateful.
You are not an outlier. Your life changed because so manyy of the variables negatively affecting your life changed. Your conditions of poverty changed. Thank goodness some took the time to care for you and met those basic needs maslow asserts are necesary. Outliers are those who overcome the adverse effects of poverty in spite of the conditions of poverty. Your story is a poignant example of meeting basic human needs paying off rather than try to meet standards and arbitrary proficiency levels.
I forgot to ask one thing. Had you not been fortunate enough to eventually have caring people in your lifee, would govt mandated starvation have motivated you to work harder to raise your test scores?
The type of laws passed in Tennessee would only have taken a bad situation and made it worse. I had enough problems, I did not need to think that someone else was relying on me for food and sustenance, I couldn’t even take care of my own needs. It would have motivated me to lie, cheat or steal to meet my needs. Survival comes first.
Suzann, my apologies, I intended to spell your name correctly. I am getting over a headache from a rock to the face while riding my motorcycle home from school. No offense was intended.
Do they realize the abuse that will be heaped upon these children when parents lose their welfare check? The child will be blamed by the parents and I am sure violence will ensue
Diane, thank you so much for posting on what’s happening in my state! There are so many terribly repercussions I hardly know where to start. A group of us have started a petition to our state legislators and Governor asking them to vote against this bill. Due in part to our efforts (so I’m told), the Senate floor vote was delayed one week until next Thursday, but it still has House committees to go through. At first we started it only for Tennesseans, but at this point I would love anyone who wants to sign on to support our efforts to do so (I’ve had it confirmed by legislators that they get an email with EVERY signature and comment, so it’s worth it just for that!). We just hit 2,000 signatures – would love to see that double. Here’s the link: http://chn.ge/ZhThV2. Thank you for shining a light on this horrible proposed legislation!
Hunger is a great motivator.
“As many as 25 students at Coelho Middle School were denied meals or told to throw their lunches away Tuesday because they could not pay or their pre-paid accounts did not contain enough money, school officials said today.”
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/lunch-denied-to-some-attleboro-students/article_1baa66c8-9c85-11e2-a9a0-0019bb2963f4.html
In my response below, I used piers instead of peers. My regrets..Caught it as I was submitting and could not take it back…
You can not stoop any lower than this.
It is embarrassing enough to have to eat a free lunch, then to humiliate these children in front of their piers??
To whom may I send money to help these children? It is not fair that they have been so humiliated.
I know of a person who never ate but one lunch in 4 years of high school because it was too humiliating to go through the line and get the free lunch.
This articles sickens me. These children have been damaged for life.
This food company needs to be fired and the children will need counseling.
The children are innocent and need not be punished. I am also sure there are parents who work hard but can not afford the meals. They too have been humiliated.
Even if the children have deadbeat parents, you do not deny them food.
How could the principal not know? It is the principal’s job to know who is in that cafeteria at all times!
I will guarantee you that some of those teachers reached in their pockets to help these children. I, myself could not eat if I knew they children had to throw away their food.
The Tennessee folks had better stop threatening the students with their scare tactics because of scores on a standardized test.
America is sick of these standardized tests and what they are doing to the minds of our children by these so-called educational leaders(who have never taught one day in their lives)
They have stripped the teachers of creativity, they have stripped the children of dignity, they have ridiculed the low performing, poverty stricken students by reporting skewed and misused data from an unequal playing field.
To those people who wake up everyday to a hot breakfast and a warm house, I hope you are thankful for your bounties as there are countless numbers of children who have nothing to eat..nothing to look forward to but more and more humiliation.
America’s schools and educational system have now reached its new abyss…and are sinking more each day.
I take the time to read these blogs because I can speak without worry of losing a job…
This money, this Gates Power, this corporate world, this political power war, and the flawed data used for Political Gain is ruining the educational system.
Piers..ooops..peers..
A few years ago, if I remember correctly, there were a lot of articles about research showing that students’ test grades improved when they were rewarded with cash. Since then, we have seen nothing but punitive measures for students and also for teachers. Perhaps we should give poor kids a realistic hope that performing well in school will actually benefit them.
I missed this blog post, but caught the topic on the Daily Show. What could be better than cutting a $189 check by 30%, plunging a family into even deeper poverty, and letting the family and little Johnny know that his bad grades are the reason the family has to suffer more? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? After this and the story out of Ohio about debtor’s prisons, life in these here United States seems more and more like a Dicken’s novel.