1. Write a brief message telling them that they represent YOU and you want the high stakes testing to STOP NOW! It’s abusive and it’s hurting children.
STOP IT – FIX IT – or SCRAP IT!!!
2. Send your email on OCTOBER 2nd to your Representative.
3. Share with everyone you know, and encourage them to do the same.
IN ORDER TO GET ANYBODY’S ATTENTION, THIS HAS TO HAPPEN ALL OVER THE STATE on October 2nd!!!!
It pains me to say this, but professionals in our field often seem content to work within the constraints of traditional policies and accepted assumptions—even when they don’t make sense. Conversely, too many educators seem to have lost their capacity to be outraged by outrageous things. Handed foolish and destructive mandates, they respond only by requesting guidance on how to implement them.
Kohn hits the nail on the head here. In an exceedingly rapid fashion we have been handed mandates from bureaucrats that we know to be harmful to our profession. Rather than speak up most teachers are herded along into implementing those mandates.
These days, the greatest barrier to meaningful learning is the standards-and-testing juggernaut—top-down, corporate-style mandates that are squeezing the life out of classrooms. This, therefore, is where courage may be needed most desperately.
We are reaching a critical point this year. For the first time there has been some push back against the reform measures that have harmed our professions and our students. It is becoming increasingly important for teachers to stand up for themselves.
I understand how real fear keeps more of us from doing what we know should be done. I don’t want to blame the victims, or minimize the culpability of those who pass bad laws. But if every educator who understood the damage done by those policies decided to speak out, to organize, to resist, then the policies would soon collapse of their own weight.
The emphasis on that last quote is mine. We have it in our power to affect change. The PJSTA is providing you with several opportunities to do that this year. It is more important than ever that our entire membership acts out against the damaging reform measures this year. Our profession truly does depend on it.
He ends with a great quote from Jonathan Kozol…
“Abject capitulation to unconscionable dictates from incompetent or insecure superiors can be contagious.”
State Rep.Carl Seel, R-Phoenix, one of the foes, said he believes Brewer is trying to blunt the opposition by confusing the issue.
He said people now call state agencies to ask them the status of Common Core standards. With Brewer’s action, he said, callers will be told that Common Core no longer exists, lulling them into believing the new standards have been scrapped .
Initially I thought this must be a joke. Seriously?! THIS is their strategy for defending the Common Core?! Changing the name?!
It’s like they think critics and opponents are all Elmer Fudd’s asking a disguised Bugs Bunny which way the wabbit went.
That this is the strategy these so-called Best and Brightest have come up with to push back against Common Core opponents shows you just how much damage the attacks against them have done and how bereft of ideas the reformers are to defend their own agenda.
In Maryland they are arresting people for questioning the Common Core. In Arizona they are trying to trick the public. Stay tuned to see what Governor Cuomo comes up with.
The reformers will seemingly stop at nothing as they try to silence critics of their policies. In case you didn’t see it, a man was arrested in Maryland last week for speaking out against the Common Core State Standards at a public forum that the Maryland State Education Department hosted.
At one time in America you weren’t arrested for asking questions and being critical about something.
We know corporate “privatizers” don’t care to hear from teachers. We know they didn’t care about what parents thought either. What they care about is making a buck on the backs of our children. But still, this is simply outrageous. Where will it end?
Last week we told you about the release of Diane Ravitch’s new book Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. Today we would like to announce the details of a book club that the PJSTA will be hosting to discuss the contents of the book. Here are the details…
When will the book club be? Every Wednesday evening. We will begin on October 9th. Our last meeting will be on November 20th, the week before Thanksgiving. The book club meetings will begin at 7:00 pm and run approximately an hour to an hour and a half.
Where will the meetings be held? The meetings will be held in the Comsewogue High School Auditorium.
Who can attend? Anyone! PJSTA members, administrators, parents, high school students, people from other communities… absolutely anyone with an interest in quality public education! Feel free to distribute this information far and wide!
Do I need to read the entire book before the first meeting? No you do not. We will discuss a few chapters each week as the content of the book is extensive. Typically you can expect each week’s meeting to cover 50 pages or so.
Where can I purchase the book?Amazon currently has it for under $17. Their Kindle version is available for even less. You can buy the book through all normal outlets. It’s possible that public libraries have it as well.
If you wish to join our book club please RSVP to thepjsta@gmail.com so that we can get a handle on how many people to expect. We are looking forward to some great discussions!
The PJSTA is excited to announce the launch of a new campaign that we will thread throughout the rest of the school year. The campaign, dubbed “Wear Red for Public Ed” gives every PJSTA member an opportunity to take sustained action throughout the rest of the school year in a support of public education. We will be starting on Wednesday, October 2nd! Here is what Wear Red for Public Ed consists of…
Every Wednesday we will ask every PJSTA member to wear red to work in some form. Red short sleeved and long sleeved PJSTA tee-shirts will be available as an option, but any red will do.
Hopefully you will be asked why you are wearing red. You can say that you are wearing red because you stand in support of public education and against top down, corporate reforms that have been imposed on us. You can then give them a copy of our flyer (see bottom of this post).
On Wednesday we will ask you to use the hashtag #red4ed on social media to share why you wear red. Tweet it, set it as your Facebook status, take pictures of your colleagues in their red and post to Instagram. We anticipate other groups joining this cause and we are hoping to get #red4ed trending on Twitter every Wednesday! A great example could be “I wear #red4ed today because I care about my students!” or “I wear #red4ed today because I stand against high stakes testing!” Be creative and have fun with it!
Once again, we will be starting on Wednesday, October 2nd! If you would like to order one of the red PJSTA shirts please email Beth Shapiro at bethshapiro1@gmail.com. Be sure to specify short sleeve (50/50) or long sleeve (100% cotton), along with your name, your shirt size, and what building you work in.
Feel free to use the comment section below for any questions.
Yesterday was Senator Flanagan’s first scheduled hearing on New York State’s Reform Agenda. I didn’t have the ability to be there as I was teaching, however I did have the good fortune of hearing about it from people who were there.
To summarize, the meeting began with Senator Flanagan showing up late. When you are as important as John J. Flanagan you can make people wait… and then make sure they use a deferential tone when addressing you. Senator Flanagan, who represents parts of the Comsewogue School District, then allowed one of his pal John King’s minions to pontificate about how wonderful the reforms are working in New York State. After that representative from NYSED took so much time to present, the other individuals invited to testify were told there wasn’t time for them to provide their entire testimony and that they should essentially try to summarize it.
The remaining invitees consisted of administrators, school board members, some parents, and one teacher. But really, who wants to hear from teachers?! Across the board the testimony lambasted the reforms. Jeanette Deutermann, a parent leader from the Long Island Opt-Out group seemed to give the most impassioned plea against the reforms, citing their impact on her children.
James Gounaris, Board of Education President of the Herricks School District, talked about how incredible Herricks is and then threw other school districts under the bus saying, “The new state mandates while understandably necessary for New York City and continually low achieving school districts like Hempstead and Roosevelt actually prevent school districts like Herricks to continue its great work.” Right. Damaging reforms are bad for Herricks but they are fine for poor districts.
James Gounaris
Senator Flanagan has three more scheduled hearings around the state (10/1 in Syracuse, 10/16 in Buffalo, and 10/29 in New York City).
Apparently some of the lawmakers in attendance expressed concern over the reforms and their implementation. It is absolutely crucial that we continue to let them know that their jobs will be on the line over this issue. It’s time to ratchet up the pressure on them. Let them know that they represent us. If we endure another year of catastrophic education policy in New York State, these state legislators should pay with their jobs next Election Day.
Today Diane Ravitch’s new book Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools becomes available to the general public. Ravitch uses the book to explore the various “reform” issues that public schools in America have been forced to deal with. She uses data to explain the destructive nature of such reforms and then poses real solutions to the problems with our schools.
Below is a list of some of the many reviews available…
Last week PJSTA President Beth Dimino and I had the opportunity to attend the first stop on Ravitch’s book tour in Manhattan. Ed Notes Online’s Norm Scott recorded the session.
In the coming days the PJSTA will be announcing the book group that we will be hosting to discuss Ravitch’s book. Anyone is welcome to attend: Teachers, administrators, parents, high school students, or people from outside our community. Flyers will be distributed with information. Additionally a blog post with details will be forthcoming.
Last week, on the first day of school, Senator Flanagan, no friend of education, and NYSED Commissioner John King, who should be fired, visited Hauppauge Middle School and Pines Elementary School together. The purpose of their visit was to see how well their plans to destroy public education are progressing “observe classes and facilities and talk with students and faculty.”
“I was impressed with the school, where you have an energetic, committed principal [and] teachers who are clearly committed to kids’ success,” King said following his visit to Hauppauge Middle School.
I wonder how many of those teachers who were “energetic” and “committed” got “ineffective” growth scores according to King’s plan? Even the most “energetic” and “committed” can be rated “ineffective” under King’s plan, given the fact that figuring out a growth score is akin to playing “Pin the Tale on the Donkey”.
King, a former history teacher himself, said he was thrilled to see such an engaging experience in which one of the two teachers was dressed in historical attire while discussing public policy issues with his students.
While I am sure it was a great lesson, I wish the teacher was empowered enough to facilitate a lesson where the students could ask the Commissioner and Senator why they were selling their education to the highest bidder. It’s irritating to see teachers putting on a dog and pony show for these phonies rather than standing up for their profession and using the opportunity to explain to King and Flanagan how destructive their policies are to students and teachers. I can’t understand how any public school in New York State makes itself a welcoming place for John King.
“That’s exactly what Common Core is looking for us to do,” Fletcher said. “To pull experiences together instead of learning in little chunks. It’s really looking for bigger ideas and asking kids to make connections to other things.”
It’s also bothersome when you see administrators who simply act as a shill for people like King, who are seeking to destroy their profession. It would be refreshing if more administrators were as courageous as superintendent Joe Rella and principal Carol Burris.
“It was great to hear their excitement about school,” King said. “They were excited about school, about specific classes, about technology class. … That’s always nice to see, when kids are really engaged with school. I could also see how the enrichment activities matter a lot to them, whether the thing they’re most excited about is sports … or music. We’ve got to make sure we protect those things in all of our schools.”
It’s comical to believe that King would make this statement when his unfunded mandate policies are forcing districts to gut these very programs.
Remember, today is the first of Flanagan’s four “public” hearings throughout the State. He has an “invite only” list of people who will be allowed to speak at these meetings. If you want your voice to be heard, be sure to submit your written testimony. Otherwise, Flanagan and the people who agree with him will be the only opinions heard. In the coming months, we will provide you with other opportunities to let Senator Flanagan hear your voice.
The Official Website of the PJSTA 