Donna Dudley, superintendent of Moyers public schools in Oklahoma, made a conscious decision to defy the state.
It should not have been an extraordinary decision because it was what a decent human being would do.
Two of her students suffered a terrible loss the weekend before the state tests. Their parents were killed in a car crash.
Superintendent Dudley asked the state for permission to exempt them from the state tests.
The bureaucrats at the State Education Department said no.
Superintendent Dudley exempted them anyway.
I honor her here as a hero of public education.
The story broke after Superintendent Dudley wrote about it on Facebook and said she was willing for her school to get an F, if that was the consequence of doing what was right for the students.
Once the situation was publicized, the State Superintendent of Instruction, Janet Barresi, quickly apologized.
Mistakes were made.
When the state is wrong, individuals must do what is right regardless of the consequences.
Question is, when will the state–not only Oklahoma–but the federal government, President Obama, Secretary Duncan, and the U.S. Congress–admit that the emphasis on testing is out of control?
Why test dying children? Why test children who have no brain stem? Why test grieving children?
What has happened to our humanity?
Why must the demand for Big Data trump decency and kindness and basic values?
When will we stand together and say NO?
I reiterate the demand of the Network for Public Education for Congressional hearings on the misuse, overuse, and costs of testing in our schools today.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Many blessing and praise to Donna Dudley
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Well done, Ms. Dudley.
Crazy that in these times this is considered extraordinary behavior. Simply a matter of common decency and common sense.
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So-called education reform is by its nature authoritarian and inhumane, so common decency and common sense verge on the seditious.
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What times we live in, when—
“One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.” [Mary Sarton]
😎
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We have lost our way!
We kid ourselves that this ‘inhumanity to man’ has no LongTerm consequences…it does! Our nation’s psyche is not well, and we are reducing all of life to profits and legal vs illegal. Fighting for humanity makes us weird, oppositional and wrong? We often hear that shootings, bombings and disasters bring out the Best in us. As reassuring this can be, but the fact that we are living from crisis to crisis, mourn, celebrate with slogans of ………….STRONG, and on to the next crisis. What is happening in education is a daily crisis for our children, parents and our teachers. The daily intensity and often hopelessness, which will increase in more states next year, will create more opportunities for our nation to gather and celebrate the next ……….STRONG!
The Deformers have painted themselves into a corner with NCLB, RTTT, VAM and Arne’s grandstanding and peeling on posts to stake out his territory will make it worse. The end of the end is somewhere in this. Do we want to hurry up and let the wheels fly off in 50 states with Fs, every school system with Fs, or die a slow, tedious, prolonged, hobbling on life support as the ‘US runs on Duncan’?
It may be better if we speed this up and more of the US gets the Big Picture instead of the long painful fight. I’m at a loss and worry for all children, and on a personal note, for my little grandchildren…who still LOVE to learn.
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Thank you, Ms. Dudley for doing the right thing. I agree with everyone here that it is sad that you even had to deal with this. This is a time for comforting these children and supporting them–not testing them. The fact that these people at the top had to apologize for their behavior at a time like this is truly sad.
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Today’s FB post by the Dalia Lama really seems to apply to this situation:
For many people, the only tangible value is money. And of course money has its place, but the value of cultivating a compassionate attitude is much more effective. When we only pay attention to material values, there’s little room for concern for others, or for mutual regard.
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This superintendent is a genuine hero. Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed students tested under equally grim circumstances. NCLB/RttT leaves no room for sense or compassion.
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Reblogged this on rightfulwriter and commented:
Would you have done anything different for these children? I’m tired of children being mere numbers.
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Superintendent Dudley, thank you for having the courage and common sense to protect these children as if they were your own. My prayers will be with them and I am so very sad and sorry for their loss. My sympathy is also with all the educators, neighbors, friends, students and extended family who love these children, and will be there to support them through this horrific nightmare in their young lives. Shame on anyone who doesn’t put their hearts and souls first.
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Thank you, Ms Dudley, for standing up for humanity, dignity, civility, and self-respect.
And for serving as a beacon of light and hope for our children…for not only knowing the difference between virtue and malice, but also having the courage and fortitude to act accordingly…and for being so much more to them than just an educator.
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When the tests and the test results are more important than the people taking them then we are way off course.
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So refreshing to learn another Superintendent has the backbone and courage to make the right decision for children at quite a risk. Cheers!
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More evidence that President Obama and Arne Duncan have put sociopaths in charge of Common Core testing that was designed to get teachers fired and close public schools so corporations could step in and teach our children.
What does this show us about Obama and Duncan? Are they also sociopaths?
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Answer to question: YES!
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Difficult to be nice here. Janet Barresi is typical of the BROADIE scum that dirties the schools they touch.
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Ms. Dudley made the day! She showed us how to cope with clueless state bureaus who couldn’t care less about student’s health or family issue. Name & shame those who think tests are far more important than student emergency.
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Thank you for posting this, Diane!
I am so proud of Donna Dudley. She stood for right in the face of adversity. I’m honored to teach in the same state. Oklahoma strong!!
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Hi Diane,
I would like to nominate Mike Paskewicz, superintendent of Northview Public Schools in Grand Rapids, as a hero superintendent. For over a year now I’ve read his blog and have been consistently impressed with how hard he works to communicate clearly and transparently not only with his staff, but also with state and local politicians. He writes to those politicians every single week, asking them hard questions about their efforts to “reform” public schools, and sharing good news about public schools in general. He spends an enormous amount of time on these communications. He stands behind the students and employees in his district 100%.
Here’s the link to his blog:
https://sites.google.com/a/nvps.net/superintendent-blog/blog
Sincerely,
Kelly Flynn,
Author of The Teachers’ Lounge (Uncensored): A Funny, Edgy, Poignant Look at Life in the Classroom (Foreword by Nancy Carlsson-Paige)
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