Charter School Bill Expensive, Unnecessary

The Republican-controlled NC legislature wants to “fix” our public schools by bringing in 50 new charter schools per year with its latest education bill.  But critics note that while 17% of charter schools perform better than the average public school, a larger percentage are worse.  And starting costly new schools in the midst of the Great Recession is not fiscally prudent.

Many charter schools are designed to 'handpick' students, and their policies cater to two-parent, affluent households.  Teachers do not have to be certified, and questionable teaching or discipline practices do not have the oversight of public school administrators. While the charter bill does include a new NC Charter School Commission (to act independently of the Department of Public Instruction), it will not determine local policy. 

The expense of setting up NC’s new charter schools and commission will bleed our state’s already-shriveling public school dollars, including transportation budget, child nutrition money, and even a percentage of public school fundraisers.  This bill also gives counties new taxing authority, “up to a combined rate of one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) on the one hundred dollars ($100.00) appraised value of property subject to taxation” to help charters build capital.

Legal challenges to the Charter Cap bill are anticipated to cost millions of dollars, further bankrupting our state and our children’s educations. 

Despite No Child Left Behind’s destructive testing standards and labels, NC’s public schools are not broken.  In fact, the recently adopted Common Core Standards should increase academic rigor, and a proposed update to NCLB will measure student progress to better illustrate successful teaching strategies.  NC does not need the ‘fix’ or expense of raising the Charter cap.

During tough economic times, fiscally conservative child advocates should work together to improve the schools we have, not throw them out and buy new ones.  

The President Responds

January 13, 2011 Dear Friend: Thank you for sharing your thoughts on education.  I appreciate hearing from you.  I am committed to providing the best possible education for our Nation's students because our children deserve it and because, today more than ever, America's prosperity rests on how well we educate them. Across the country, we have many great schools and dedicated teachers.  We should be proud of these successes, and eager to discover and support what makes them great.  We must also realize that not all children get the education they deserve, and many schools need urgent reform to better help our students reach their full potential.  Through the Recovery Act, my Administration has made a historic investment toward improving public education and providing greater access to a complete and competitive education for every child.  This investment will make high-quality, early learning programs available to more young children.  The Recovery Act will also help strengthen the teaching profession by recognizing talented teachers who improve learning and by encouraging them to stay in the schools that need them most.  We are committed to exploring innovative approaches that advance teaching and learning through high standards and expectations for all students, and to developing meaningful assessments.  These steps can ensure our graduates are prepared for success both in their higher education and careers.  A child's education does not begin and end with a school bell, and responsibility must extend beyond a school's walls.  Our future success depends on a greater level of engagement between parents, communities, and schools on behalf of children.  We all share the duty to educate our students, and if we hold them to the highest standards, they will meet them.  Please join me online to read more at:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/education. Sincerely, Barack Obama   Comment - OK, it's a form letter.  But it's nice to know what happens when you write to the president, isn't it?        ~Sharon

Letter to the President

Dear President Obama,

National over-emphasis on standardized test scores is devastating our local public schools and students.

Students who have trouble passing the tests are repeatedly drilled on the same subjects – math and reading.  Often low-income, minority, or students with learning disabilities, kids labeled ‘failures’ by the testing system are defeated by continuous focus on their weaknesses and the “bubble tests.”  They are hindered from developing potential strengths in other subjects. 

Students who pass the tests still see their curriculum shrink.  Science, Social Studies, Writing, and the arts have been de-emphasized so much that many students and teachers now question their importance.  Teachers are often pulled from regular classes to tutor low-performing students, leaving average and high-scoring students with substitutes and worksheets.  Middle class students in public schools are not receiving as strong an education as their parents had, and many will graduate without sufficient preparation for college or the work force.  Being able to pass three multiple-choice tests a year is not enough education; the next generation needs a balanced curriculum.

If test-score based sanctions and rewards continue to dominate our schools, our children’s generation will not have enough engineers, scientists, doctors, nurses, teachers, historians, leaders, writers, etc.  The average citizen will not know enough about government or history to make educated choices when voting.  Lacking writing skills, they will not be able to communicate effectively to improve their personal lives, their businesses or their government.

I am a former language arts teacher.  Since 2001, I have supported Guilford County schools in North Carolina as a PTA President, community activist, tutor, and testing proctor.  These positions have allowed me to observe the effects of the No Child Left Behind Act up close, and discuss testing issues with teachers and parents from many schools.   Dedicated administrators, school board members and teachers in our diverse district wrestle daily with the impossible challenges set up by the NCLBA.  I have seen teachers struggle against, and finally succumb to pressure to ‘teach to the tests’ as scores on the EOG’s have taken priority over every other criterion for evaluating teachers and schools.   Good teachers and principals have taken early retirement or found other ways out of the classroom because they cannot stand the constant testing environment.

My daughter made straight A’s and scored in the top percentile on EOG tests, but was not taught to write (essays, etc.) in middle school because writing is not tested.  Writing is a major skill like reading or arithmetic that must be developed over years, but because of NCLB it is neglected in our schools.  

Attacks on public schools, including those created by the NCLBA, are hurtful to the middle class.  The NCLBA will leave the majority of our public school students prepared for little but factory work, in a country where factory jobs are becoming less common.  I believe this could lead to major societal instability as these unskilled graduates and drop-outs look for jobs.

Please listen to public school teachers and parents, and consider the negative effects of the Bush Administration’s bipartisan “No Child Left Behind” act.  Not only has this legislation failed in its goal to bring every child to a standard reading and math level, but I believe it has lowered education standards around the country. 

Thank you for the work you are doing for our country.  I am one of millions of people who believe you are one of the greatest presidents we will ever have.  Helping our public education system change direction and recover from No Child Left Behind is very important.  A strong public education system is imperative for our democracy to remain viable.

Sincerely yours,

Sharon Shepard

Both September entries/ editorials will be attached.

No Child Gets Ahead - How No Child Left Behind Resembles Soviet Communism

            The No Child Left Behind Act has altered our Nation’s schools as Communism did the Russian economy.  Our federal government created a system where group achievement trumps personal needs.  Fear of failure has become the primary motivator for school managers and workers.  Both the names and aims of Communism and NCLB were inspirational, but their design flaws are also similar.

            Marx’s communist philosophy and NCLB both evolved to address glaring inequalities in resource distribution.  Before the NCLBA, children with disabilities, non-English speakers, and children heavily impacted by poverty and/or racism were under-served by our schools.  The difficulty and expense of educating such children overwhelmed teachers and administrators, who often gave up on them.  Like the poverty of nineteenth century Russian peasants, this entrenched disparity called for drastic change.  Our government developed the NCLBA with the good intention of narrowing the education gap between “haves” and “have-nots” in America.  I wish it was successful.

            Measuring the academic achievement gap on a national scale could be accomplished most easily through standardized testing, which became the dominant feature of the NCLBA.  As he signed the law in 2002, President Bush boasted that all American children would achieve the same standards on reading and math tests.  Like Soviet factories, schools that did not help all workers reach productivity goals would be labeled “failures,” and could be overhauled by government authorities.  Unfortunately, such penalties have forced teachers to focus almost exclusively on test score enhancement, with disastrous results for education.

            The NCLB edutopia spotlights Reading and Mathematics.  Confusing children with extensive Science, Social Studies, or Arts instruction is not encouraged, as these subjects are not tested.  Our government is leaving a generation largely ignorant about scientific data, rich lessons of history, and the arts.  Fortunately for our children, many teachers still cover untested material, but they swim upstream against a red tide of NCLB priorities.

            Each year in American testing factories, modern pupils spend many weeks preparing for the End of Grade (EOG) examinations.  Practice assessments are given under “testing conditions,” in which children as young as eight spend entire mornings quietly wiggling at their desks, ignoring repetitive instructions, and answering multiple choice questions.  Teachers and students are so exhausted by the anxiety and time involved, that little is taught during testing weeks.  EOG “pep rallies” remind one of a ‘groupthink’ scene from George Orwell’s 1984.  And once the EOG’s are over in May, many classrooms turn into movie theaters and day-care centers, as the teacher’s work is considered done for the year.  Standardized testing discourages comprehensive education. 

            Communism reordered Russia’s caste system, and NCLB has had negative consequences for high achievers in US schools.  The Soviets treated every worker alike, forcing potential doctors and engineers to break up dirt clods on communal farms.  Russia is still recovering from this waste of human potential.  Similarly, many advanced students in our public schools are not receiving an education to match their abilities.  Students who score high on standardized tests are re-drilled on the basic material, apparently aiming for perfection.  As one such student noted, “No Child Left Behind means no child gets ahead either.” 

            Increased production was demanded of Soviet factory and farm workers without higher wages.  Production decreased.  The NCLBA sets progressively higher test-score goals.  More schools “fail” each year.  Students at risk of being ‘left behind’ have received more attention since 2002, but still struggle on tests due to factors beyond teacher control.  A teacher once told me every school will eventually fail under the NCLBA, because it is impossible to equalize test scores without lowering standards completely.

            Like the Russian Revolution, the NCLBA revealed unjust inequalities, but created new problems with punitive measures.  Test-taking is not inherently rewarding.  Therefore, American uber-emphasis on test scores punishes students and teachers, dooming schools and our society to eventual failure. 

            Adult workers perform a great variety of tasks in order to thrive in this multifaceted world, supporting not only themselves but our communities.  Our young citizens need diverse learning experiences, not the narrow focus of standardized tests.  While no child should be ‘pushed behind,’ the NCLBA requires revision.  Every American student must be challenged to reach his or her individual potential and rewarded for doing so, if our public education system is to escape the fate of the Soviet Union.

To Improve Education, Bring Back the Third ‘R’

             When I was a kid, students went to school to learn the ‘three R’s – reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.’

But now reading and math are the dominant subjects for End of Grade tests in our nation’s public schools, so the harder-to-score writing is often neglected until tenth grade.  An unintended consequence of the No Child Left Behind act may be large numbers of students entering college and the job market with weak writing abilities.

Writing is like reading and math:  these important skills must be built over years; they cannot be learned well in a semester course.  Children often scribble ‘words’ before they learn to read.  Handwriting, spelling, and basic grammar exercises prepare elementary students to write paragraphs.  In middle and high school, writing assignments facilitate adolescents’ natural progression toward logical and organized adult thinking.  American teens learn how to exercise their right to free speech using persuasive essays and business letters.  Term papers give writers in-depth, permanent understanding of reading material. Writing should be a key component of every school’s curriculum.

            Many state and national education leaders apparently agree.  In June, the NC Board of Education adopted “Common Core State Standards” which define “clear and consistent goals for learning, to prepare children for success in college and work.”  These nationally-recognized objectives, scheduled to go into effect in August, 2012, emphasize a well-rounded education.   You can explore www.corestandards.org for easy-to-understand definitions of what children should learn in every grade and subject, including writing. 

I hope the long-overdue revision of the NCLB act helps to implement these standards without the unhealthy testing obsession created by previous legislation.

A Writing Renaissance in our public schools would boost learning and help expand curriculum to meet the new standards.  Parents and administrators could focus a tad less on test scores and encourage teachers to give more writing assignments.  Schools and community groups can promote student writing by sponsoring old fashioned essay contests.  Student newspapers and literary journals are easy to publish using computers. 

It would not be difficult to revitalize the third ‘R.’  We need to make it a priority.