UPDATE: Because of protests from parents and his State board of education, John White, the state superintendent of Louisiana, just announced he was pulling all the state’s student data out of inBloom. Louisiana was the only state sharing all its confidential student data statewide except for NY with this controversial corporation called inBloom Inc., and the only other state that we know of that had already begun to send them this sensitive data, which in turn planned to provide it … →
By Rita Solnet Magicians call it misdirection. Salesmen call it diversion. Senators call it Amendments. Some Florida legislators are well versed in the David Copperfield method of passing hotly contested bills. Using sleight of hand, they slap on an amendment and then create the illusion that – abracadabra – all concerns are resolved, all opposition is appeased. Florida’s controversial Senate Bill 862, the Parent Empowerment bill, would create a parent trigger law enabling parents to collect signatures from 51% of … →
Here’s the letter MecklenburgACTS co-chair Pamela Grundy sent to the members of the N.C. House Education Committee, requesting that they support a moratorium on high-stakes testing. Find more on the North Carolina campaign at MecklenburgACTS.org. MecklenburgACTS also published a piece on tests and zombies in the Raleigh News and Observer this past Sunday. Dear Representative, On behalf of many, many North Carolina parents, I write to ask you to support HB 775, which would impose a one-year moratorium on state-mandated … →
Parent Voices Weekly Education Fax April 17, 2013 Fix our schools, don’t privatize them This week’s update:Market-driven school reforms, mayoral control causing more harm than good A new study, “Market-oriented education reforms’ rhetoric trumps reality,” on the effects of market-driven reform in Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago concludes that little has been accomplished and some harm has been done to students, especially the underprivileged…. Market-oriented education reform refers to a series of initiatives that include educator evaluations based … →
Parents, teachers, children at Play-In call for less testing, more playing for young children in CPS Chicago, IL: Today, dozens of parents, children and educators attended a “Play-In” organized by More Than a Score to highlight their concern that testing has taken over the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) classrooms of our youngest children, pushing play-based learning out. The group set up play areas at CPS headquarters to demonstrate the power of play. Adults played side-by-side with children using blocks, bubbles, … →
Parent Voices Weekly Education Fax April 10, 2013 Oppose rapid expansion of charter schools This week’s update:Charter waiting list numbers greatly exaggerated Local Chicago NPR station WBEZ-FM reported this week that the charter school waiting list figure cited by advocates“significantly overstates demand” and that “the 19,000 figure counts applications, not students, meaning if a student applies to four schools, he or she is counted four times. It includes kids who have turned down charter seats and are now enrolled in … →
A Former TFA teacher speaks PAA Board member Karran Harper Royal shared this video with the following comment: If another state or local education board votes to fund TFA after viewing this video, they should be arrested for conspiracy to commit child abuse. This video along with the Baye Cobb videos from Blackboard Wars shows how ineffective some of these young teachers can be. They should not be in a classroom as the only teacher in the room and should … →
This article was written by PAA-Atlanta/GA/Atlanta Public Schools chapter leader Kimberly Brooks, whose children attended one of the schools where officials have been indicted for racketeering in connection with widespread standardized test cheating. **** My name is Kimberly Brooks, parent of two children that attended Parks Middle School in Atlanta, where the principal was recently indicted for cheating on state tests. For the past two years the Atlanta Public School system has gained the attention of the nation. The most … →
“What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy.” John Dewey, The School and Social Progress That’s how PAA opened our position paper on ESEA. It’s also an apt description of our co-founder Leonie Haimson, who became the target of attack this week for having enrolled one of her children in a private … →
How is a standardized test like a zombie? They’re mindless, and they just keep coming. The MecklenburgACTS.org “Stop Testing Madness in North Carolina” campaign is off to a great start, closing in on 600 signatures, and with almost half our state’s 100 counties represented. We’re talking to school boards, superintendents and other organizations about endorsements, and working on a piece of state legislation that would place a moratorium on state-imposed consequences tied to student test scores. This would include … →
