Bill Ashton, a teacher in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was suspended for discussing opting out with his students. They launched a campaign to “Bring Back Ashton,” and he was reinstated.
But the leaders of the school and the district made it clear that he had violated district policy and was on thin ice. They accused him of editing anti-testing fliers that ridiculed the Rhode Island Department io Education. They were especially angry that his son was leading an anti-testing protest.
“Ashton was sent home on paid leave last Friday after telling students at the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts that the school would not lose funding if they did not take the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exam, according to a letter written that same day by JMW Principal Elizabeth Fasteson. Ashton was back to work on Tuesday morning, according to school.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on Kmareka.com and commented:
Home state news!
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“They were especially angry that his son was leading an anti-testing protest.”
The rephomsters are so disrespectful of the youth they claim to care so much about. The only thing they can think is that the teacher must have put his kid up to this. The idea that this is something the kid did of his own free will and agency is utterly a foreign concept to them. I guess after you’ve spent enough time herding kids onto buses for mandatory “field trips” to “protest” in favor of charters, you start to assume that all youth protest must be orchestrated.
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“The rephomsters are so disrespectful of the youth they claim to care so much about.”
Great comment, Dienne.
“Rephomsters” are resorting to bully-tactics because their “reforms” cannot stand on merit. Like all bullies, they are scared.
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In Utah, I was told that my children should not tell their friends about how they are opted out of the testing, lest it come back to me. I guess the children of teachers don’t have First Amendment rights, either.
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Yeah, that part of the story made no sense to me. Aren’t the parent and kid two different people? If the kid got arrested for something would the parent lose his job?
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Maybe this was about the school too, insufficient conformity to RULES at the –Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
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Artists tend to be non conformists, it shouldn’t be too shocking. They can work this mess into satirical are a’la Chaucer. Artists can ridicule you in perpetuity!
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The AFT and the NEA should be making public statements on the harassment of teachers, including here in Philadelphia, who discuss opting out with parents and community members. The unions should make sure that all teachers know their rights and what to do if those rights are violated.
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Agree, Lisa!
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Unfortunately, our AFT mis-leadership supports Common Core and the testing regime that is inseparable from it… something about Bill Gates and the money he’s given them…
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“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”
Mr. Frederick Douglass, 19th century American hero.
“Bill Ashton, an English teacher at Jacqueline M. Walsh High School in Pawtucket (RI), has been suspended for telling students about “OPT-Out” and other aspects of the Common Core-inspired PAARC test. The students and many parents in the school are protesting his suspension.” [this blog, 3-15-2015]
Mr. Bill Ashton, 21st century American hero.
Great wrongs bring out the best in ourselves and summon forth the best from amongst us.
It is going to be painfully long, the damage will be heartbreakingly deep, but the owner of this blog is right—
The good guys don’t always win, but we—all those for a “better education for all”—are going to win this one.
If for no other reason than we can’t let Mr. Douglass and Mr. Ashton down.
😎
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Did he lie or is it true that the school would not lose funding?
I asked what funding my district would lose if too many students did not take the test and I did not get an answer.
It seems as though he got in trouble for answering a valid question someone asked.
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“But the leaders of the school and the district made it clear that he had violated district policy and was on thin ice.”
An error here. The school’s administrators are not leaders at the school. Bill Ashton is a school leader.
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In a democracy just who should be REPRIMANDED Bill Ashton or the administrators responsible for suspending this teacher exercising his First Amendment right? The administration of that school set a very poor example for the students it serves for suspending this teacher in the first place… then reinstating without an APOLOGY to the teacher. Stern reprimand? Really? A sad day for democracy.
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Firings as political crackdowns are moving swiftly in higher ed. UNC is purging market-god non-believers. Education “reform” is remaking schools into Randian worship centers.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/new-politics-at-the-university-of-north-carolina?intcid=mod-most-popular
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Sounds like an education hero to me.
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