Last week, the Lee County, Florida, school board voted 3-2 to remove the district from state testing. Some members want to reconsider. They have scheduled a meeting at a time when students, parents, and teachers are likely to be unavailable.
Bob Schaeffer of Fartest issued the following statement:
for immediate release Friday, August 29, 2014
NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAIR & OPEN TESTING (FAIRTEST) STATEMENT
BY PUBLIC EDUCATION DIRECTOR BOB SCHAEFFER
As a 15-year resident of Lee County, I have closely followed the Lee School Board’s debate about standardized testing misuse and overuse, testified at recent public hearings on the topic, ready Attorney Martin’s memo and communicated directly with School Board members.
The Lee School Board has the right to reconsider its vote to “opt out” of state-mandated testing. But the decision to schedule a special meeting at 8:30am on a weekday — when working Lee County public school parents, district educators, and students cannot attend is outrageous. Those are the stakeholders most directly impacted by the decision.
This important session must be rescheduled to a date and time when more members of these constituencies can participate in the democratic process.
The massive public relations campaign promoting worst-case scenarios and hypothetical “doomsday” penalties from the state ignore the damage being done to Lee County children by continued compliance with standardized exam misuse and overuse mandates.
Precipitous action to reverse the Board’s vote is not justified. Lee students do not face any immediate risk. It would make better sense to see what other districts do (for example, Palm Beach is considering a resolution similar to Lee’s) and how the state responds.
Rather than rescind the August 27 vote, a more measured approach would be to establish a committee of administrators, educators, parents and assessment experts to assess testing policies and propose a measured action plan to implement the goal adopted by the Board.
Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director
FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing
4163 Dingman Drive, Sanibel, FL 33957
office- (239) 395-6773 fax- (239) 395-6779
mobile- (239) 696-0468
web- http://www.fairtest.org
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is worth noting that a teacher who calls in “sick” on a day following a holiday must present proof from a physician that he or she was sick, or s/he will not be granted sick leave. Personal leave may be possible, but I believe it requires prior notice and administrator approval. Administrator approval will indeed be difficult to arrange on a holiday weekend….
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I wrote this for Lee County – as they reconsider the vote: As this common core and high stakes testing war comes to a head I am watching lots of folks trying to mediate and ask folks to be reasonable. They want to talk about all the harm that could come to our schools should we refuse these tests or refuse test prep common core curriculum. When I hear this my hair stands on end. Number one. Don’t flipping tell me to be reasonable. Don’t insult me – as a professional – my first job is to do NO HARM. THAT IS REASONABLE. Two. Speaking of harm – what harm do you think is going to come to our communities? Our children? Let’s see, they’ve stripped our schools of all funding for small class size, librarians, nurses, counselors, art, music programs, sports programs, REAL teachers, books, building repairs, classroom supplies and more. They’ve stripped our schools of democracy. They’ve stripped our schools of trust, and respect and safety – there is NOTHING safe for children in a high stakes environment. Countless communities have been destroyed and children no longer can go to their neighborhood schools. THEY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE POVERTY AND FEED OUR CHILDREN TESTS INSTEAD. So tell me again – hurt our schools? How?? Be careful around these reasonable folks who want you to adhere to mandates in order to avoid “hurting” your schools – they have something personal to gain or they are simply sheeple. Our schools and our children are already hurt. We are attempting to educate in war tents with damaged communities, children, teachers and buildings. Quite honestly, the way many folks act now in the public schools is the way folks who have been mentally or physically abused act. Folks have been so beaten down that they are hanging on by a thread. So – you – out there – who have the audacity to tell us to stop our acts of civil disobedience in order to stop “hurting” our schools – we know your game and we know where you stand. On the wrong side of history. Get out of our way. Posted at www(dot)pegwithpen(dot)com
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Send it to all the newspapers in your area, especially the little county ones.
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