A letter was circulated to all principals in the Rochester, New York, school system, advising them to identify teachers who had encouraged parents or students to opt out and to report teachers who were absent on testing day.
Adam Urbanski, the president of the Rochester Teachers Association, sent the following letter to his members:
Colleagues,
The attached email was sent to school principals by Beverly Burrell-Moore. Understandably, teachers find the tone and content of that email to be a blatant attempt at intimidation and an infringement on teachers’ rights and academic freedom. I have immediately brought this to the attention of Superintendent Vargas who said that he was unaware of the email but would communicate his position to teachers directly later today.
As well they should, teachers feel a moral obligation to speak up when they witness harm being done to their students. The tests being now imposed on students are educational malpractice and should be objectionable to teachers, parents and all others who care about students. I applaud all parents who choose to refuse to subject their children to these meaningless and bad tests and commend teachers who insist on their right to respond to inquiries from parents and students.
Today we have filed a Class Action Grievance against the District for already taking disciplinary action against individual teachers. Please let us know if you or your colleagues suffer any reprisals as a result of speaking out against these tests. We will continue to defend the rights of teachers to speak out against harmful educational practices and to advocate for the best interest of their students.
Adam Urbanski, RTA President
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, teachers should definitely be held to a high standard of opinion neutral on high stakes testing.
They should lose their license if they make youtube videos of themselves dancing / lipsynching for SBAC or PARCC.
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From the ACLU:
https://aclu-wa.org/news/free-speech-rights-public-school-teachers
Teachers do not forfeit the right to comment publicly on matters of public importance simply because they accept a public school teaching position. Teachers cannot be fired or disciplined for statements about matters of public importance unless it can be demonstrated that the teacher’s speech created a substantial adverse impact on school functioning.
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I think they would argue that it does
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I agree. However, the Rochester school district cannot selectively punish. They must apply to the same rule to ALL teachers in violation. They also need to prove it in a courts of law. Probably a lot of “he-said-she-said” accusations that can be substantiated.
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Let me slow down:
I agree. However, the Rochester school district cannot selectively punish. They must apply the same rule to ALL teachers in violation. They also need to prove it in a court of law. Probably a lot of “he-said-she-said” accusations that cannot be substantiated.
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Here is a news article from the Democrat and Chronicle:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/04/14/opt-grievance-rochester/25772177/
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This is why I’ve said before that if all teachers refused to give and proctor the tests with our union squarely behind us (HAHAHA), they would have to apply the discipline to everyone, follow up on grievances, etc, and it would all come to a grinding halt. THere is no way schools could handle it all.
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Adam thank you for defending s democratic society
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For those who want to read the source emails, the contents of the email from Ms. Burrell-Moore are available at
http://www.rochesterhomepage.net/story/d/story/rcsd-official-give-me-names-of-teachers-encouragin/69585/t4V1RVAqHk-lhmvN3pcetA
and at:
Dr. Vargas’ full response is at
Heavy-handed, indeed.
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TN lege is hard at work on teacher’s politicin’
http://wkrn.membercenter.worldnow.com/story/28749903/bill-would-add-school-teachers-to-little-hatch-act
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I’m not exactly sure, but Burrell-Moore as “Chief of Elementary Schools” might be one of the “Superintendent’s Cabinet”, a large group of priviledged admins created by past RCSD superintendents who answer pretty much only to the Superintendent. There have been past abuses of the system by those in this inner circle. The current superintendent Vargas was supposed to reduce their numbers but has not.
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Michael Mulgrew, get a clue and take a cue from Adam.
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God forbid if a teacher is absent on a testing day because of an unfortunate emergency, like death in the family, rushed to hospital, or any reason that forces the teacher to be out. It is disturbingly disgusting the extent of these Common Core Testing day witch hunt. Thank you Adam for defending teachers. Not too many union leaders are doing that.
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There was a teacher at my school last year whose brother died suddenly and tragically in the middle of the testing window. Her classes had already begun the testing. They had to push back the testing for her class almost two weeks because she had to be there for the testing. So her students took one day of testing and then waited two weeks to finish it.
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It really is a modern day witch hunt. Teachers…bad. Charters, hedge funders, bought politicians, Pearson, testing, Campbell Brown, Rhee (may she rest in peace)…good.
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
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Thank you to this union leader for standing up for his members. I wish my union would do that.
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Free speech is gone with the wind in this country. Consider news and sportscasters getting fired for one slip of the tongue.
Oh, I forget. Some people can say what they want and get away with it.
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Freedom of speech depends on how much money one has.
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I think it is creepy that teachers cannot openly express their views on the test. Really creepy.
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Bravo to the union. If the union had acted upon any of my filed my grievances, they could not have trashed my reputation with false allegations, and removed me from the school Ihelped to put on the map, and then stolen my books and materials, to boot.
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After reading the district directive to report teachers for non-compliance with group think, I am left wondering how slavish an administrator must become to put that directive in writing, review it, … and actually send it to principals/colleagues.
The district twice instructs principals to comply “per” some directive/expectation. Like the tests in understanding knowledge, telling someone to do something “per” a directive is the most simple linkage to “meaning” as is possible! How about embedding rationale in some sort of shared moral meaning?
Unfortunately, excessive authoritarianism in any organizational system puts stooges and moral weaklings in charge.
Aldous Huxely: Liberties are not given but taken!
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And Guy Montag says, “Well, it’s a job just like any other. Good work with lots of variety. Monday, we burn Miller; Tuesday, Tolstoy; Wednesday, Walt Whitman; Friday, Faulkner; and Saturday and Sunday, Schopenhauer and Sartre. We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes. That’s our official motto.”
This nation has become the United States of Dystopia…
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The teachers who promote Opt Out, model courage and civic responsibility, for their students. It is what is expected from professionals.
State legislatures, government appointees and, elected education decision makers, take marching orders from the wealthy, whose children attend schools that reject high stakes testing. Opt Out Students, who expose greed,hypocrisy and who speak truth to power, may stop further victimization of the middle class and poor, by the sociopaths from Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
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Mary Anna Towler reports in City News that Superintendent Vargas filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education in early March.
Is one of the lawsuit issues, the number of employees he wants to hire, who are excluded from the right to collective bargaining?
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Yes, sort of, the lawsuit is about the Superintendent solely hiring who he wants to hire as opposed to the board of education wanting a say in who he hires. That’s the crux of the lawsuit Vargas filed in March.
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Thanks.
SEG reference? Connection to hires outside of collective bargaining?
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Great article. Adam Urbanski is one of the smartest and most genuine people I have ever known. He knows what is best about teaching and learning. On top of all of that he is an outstanding union leader.
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This letter to the Editor of the NY Times says it better than I ever could. Ms. Ravitch appeared with Ms. Tisch, referenced in the following letter, on MSNBC this week and devastated her argument.
“If Merryl H. Tisch, the chancellor of the State Board of Regents, wants to compare the state exams in English and math to annual medical checkups, let’s do so.
My doctor uses thorough tests that are considered accurate and are endorsed by experts in the field. Kids take state tests that educational experts agree are inaccurate assessments of student ability.
My doctor reviews my personal medical history and adjusts the exam accordingly; it’s not the same one given to the next patient with very different needs. Kids take state tests that use a one-size-fits-all approach.
My doctor returns test results within a week, so we can immediately begin any treatment or behavior changes necessary to improve my health. Kids get test results in the late summer or fall, after they’ve moved on to the next grade.
And my doctor gives me a comprehensive assessment of my health, with specific numbers and details to guide my progress. Kids get a score of 1 to 4.
If doctors ran their practices the way the state runs education, most people would opt out of their annual checkup, too.”
GREG MARANO
Liverpool, N.Y.
The writer teaches seventh-grade English in a public school.
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