POD - Education

Perhaps, reducing the amount of testing and data collection would reduce the panic for everyone—and these children can stop worrying. 

Anything we can do to bring awareness to what we feel is an assault on education is something we need to promote,” he said.

“It’s a unique way to bring this issue to students who still may not be aware of the impact this proposal could have if it is adopted.”

The point was to give Luke some experience in how to conduct planned civil disobedience in a lawful manner.

This time, instead of having Luke sit through another meeting, he researched the Japanese earthquake and tsunami as a current events project.

I asked Luke what he thought about it all. He just smiled. I also asked him what some of his friends were saying. According to Luke, they did not believe that NCLB and PSSAs were going to be used to evaluate the school. They didn’t know about AYP and the sanctions that came with it. Luke’s friends just thought the tests, “were used to make sure our teachers are teaching us the right stuff.” My guess is that is what most parents believe. Why wouldn’t they believe it? They’ve been told for nine years that we are raising standards, holding teachers accountable, and leaving no children behind. Who wouldn’t support that?

That, of course, is the real problem. NCLB and the standards movement is a political bait and switch. Sold as one thing (positive) to the public and then in practice, something radically different (punitive). This is probably one of the biggest reasons I decided to do the boycott—to make my community aware and to try and enlighten them of the real issues.

My answer is that the government is not listening. Teachers, principals, teacher educators, child development specialists, and educational researchers have been trying to get this message out for years. No one will listen.

Civil disobedience is the only option left. It’s my scream in a dark cave for light. I want teachers to teach again. I want principals to lead again. I want my school to be a place of deep learning and a deeper love of teaching. I want children exposed to history, science, art, music, physical education, and current events—the same experience President Obama is providing his own children.

Maybe civil disobedience will be contagious. Maybe parents will join us in reclaiming our schools and demand that teachers and administrators hands be untied and allow them to do their jobs—engage students in a rich curriculum designed to promote deep learning and critical thinking.

We need to start giving kids the skills they need to become life-long learners and stop trying to win some imagined game of education.

People will opt out of public education because they will have found something that works better. If we want to save the mission of public education, we urgently need to get smart about the nature of school, what it is and is not, and figure out a way to offer an effective social safety net for everyone that recognizes this new reality. The old model simply doesn’t know it’s obsolete.

High-stakes, authoritarian, and punitive environments are the antitheses of the life conditions we assert public education is essential for supporting (and unlike anything being practiced in Finland).