it was my opinion from all of the books I had been reading, education groups I had become members of and from conversations with other teachers all over the country that these tests and the CC$$ that we are being required to teach have been carefully designed to, in fact, PRODUCE this failure of our children. I said that the corporate backers and the politicians they have cozied up to are working together to ensure that they can continue to label our schools and us teachers as failures so that they can close our public schools and open up charter schools to come in and save the day. They plan to break our unions by replacing us horribly ineffective, veteran teachers with cheap Teach for America minimally-prepared, temporary teachers. They plan to sell all of the states that have bought into this scheme all new CC$$-aligned materials in addition to the new online tests which require upgrades of technological infrastructure in ALL schools across the country. Cha-ching!
In a nutshell…. Your weapon against this … is to opt out your child in protest… Have him get sick for a week….. If the tests are non-conclusive, they can’t be used to close schools; fire teachers; bust unions, and allow more charters…. This test needs to go away.
Because our educational system is fine, if your standards go back to what we had when we were in school.. It is so much better than that… The sole problem with education today, is that it is being compared to the MIT of China in Shanghai, and we are being told we are not as smart as them… Reality is, They send all their most promising ones over here for college…. What do they know we don’t?
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
kavips 
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 4, 2015 at 12:47 pm
john kowalko
Kavips,
Matter of utmost importance to discuss with you offline. If you could email me at my I’d appreciate it.
John K.
January 4, 2015 at 6:35 pm
anonymous
Better Living Through Education
People coming to U.S. for an education know our educational system is a superior product which can bring success to lives of children.
Perhaps the reason others fail under the same system of education, is because………..those children are not ‘prepared’ to learn.
Today’s news articles mention conditions of hunger, drugs, chaos, uncertainty, lack of direction, drug crimes, relationship crimes, gun violence, abuses, lack of proper shelter, basic needs and support, etc. (Notice one didn’t list single parenthood, as it can often be a better option, and one is for improving the quality of home life. Quality of home life matters for kids. Although, it is nonsensical, likely criminal, that a failed ‘parent’ should continue to bring countless children into their world, only to continue illegal, dire, failed ‘home’ life conditions. Seriously, if one can’t parent one child, why is it legal to have six more for others to raise?
Now we have the school doing laundry, mental health therapy, weekend meals, child care, discipline, because the kids live hell on earth at home. What next? Beds in the hallways to insure a safe night’s sleep? Morning showers in the gym?
Pppsst. School isn’t ‘ the ‘parent’ or the ‘home.’
The question is ……..where is the parent? Where are the resources to provide for children really going? I think people know that answer. The above listed “problems” brought to school, (with obvious exceptions,) are not the result of poor “schooling,” but often…. the horrendous, pretend ‘home life.’ as well as hood life. (What do you call a ‘neighborhood’ where bullets are flying??)
When kids are hungry at home; when there is drug/alcohol abuse at home; on their sidewalks; chaos at home; violence at home; abuse at home .. why are these the problems for the school. to work with……when these are problems to be solved by social services, the health dept., law enforcement, family courts, criminal courts, prisons, etc. Child being starved at home? Child without clean clothes? Child in danger at home? Teaching the 3Rs plus, to the best of their ability, is the school’s task. Supplying a ‘home’ life, isn’t.
The child must ‘arrive’ in the class room ….rested, clean, fed, calm, soundly motivated to learn. If that isn’t happening, it’s the parent(s) fault.
Funny isn’t it. A parent from thousand of miles away can want and obtain an education for their child, (exceptions of course.) Parents down the street….. can provide the worst conditions to insure failure, while pointing their fingers elsewhere. “It’s the school’s fault.”
My opinion? School is where the troubled child turns up. Time to go after those parents ….with binding, enforceable solutions…. outside of the child’s school room.
Save the children from those who destroy their chances of a better life – the people who ‘pretend’ they have the child’s best interests in mind, as they starve, neglect, ignore and abuse a child’s rights. A child has Rights. The child has lost his/her right to be protected.The child has lost his/her right to learn at a young age. The child has lost the right to have a better life. Better living through education.
Even people thousands of miles away have their eye on the prize, the Right of a child – to a good education available to every child.
There are other state agencies, that must be held accountable, for not ensuring the children’s right to not turn up in a classroom, hungry, dirty, tired, frightened, confused, abused… unable to learn.
Hello governor, state officials. What about the ‘parents’ and state agencies that are ‘actually’ FAILING the children: The family court system that is not having baby daddies provide for their care. The police and social services, courts allowing abuses to continue. The parent who squanders away the child’s food allotment? The parent who can’t wash a child’s clothes in a sink with a cap of detergent costing pennies or see that they have a bath and proper sleep. The parent who refuses to provide a child a sane home life? Or protect him/her from physical/emotional abuse at home.
Why have teachers taken all the blame and responsibility of child rearing upon themselves?
Why is the governor et al pretending a school test score is the ‘true measurement’ of a well turned out young adult who can ‘make it’ in the world.
Are teachers afraid to speak up, much like the hundreds of crime observers, who see/know/do nothing, for yet another day? Maybe they think that if they keep quiet long enough, they too will have a chance to flee murder town. For now they can read the obit and say over and over again, “Oh yea, I remember that kid. .
Maybe it’s time to deal with the adults who are the real enablers – the one’s that see and know, that Johnnie doesn’t have a chance, but do nothing to enable him to better his life.