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Thursday, November 15, 2012

UPDATE: Parents – Here’s how to resist the attack of too much testing! Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Parents – Here’s how to resist the attack of too much testing!:


Parents – Here’s how to resist the attack of too much testing!

Alderman Matthew O'Shea introduces Monty Neill at St. Xavier forum November 2, 2012.
Parents in Chicago and around the nation are sick of all the tests that our children face in school these days. Teachers are fed up, too. They tell us that there are so many tests now that they just don’t have enough time to teach.
Anti-testing fever heated up even more during the CTU strike, when the issue of excessive and unfair testing and test-based “accountability” was forcefully and effectively raised by marchers and their picket signs. Now parents all over the city have been getting together to talk about the problem and make plans for what we can do together to fight this growing attack on our children’s education.
I spoke at a meeting with parents from Drummond Montessori school about testing on October 4. On Nov. 2,



Testing resistance resources


Stand for Children front man: No need for “parent trigger” with Chicago’s LSCs



I was proud to share the Local School Council model with my co-founders at Parents Across America, and delighted when PAA adopted it as our alternative to the “parent trigger” school privatization mechanism.
Unlike charter or private turnaround companies, LSCs have a significant track record of improving schools over time without any extra resources beyond the collaborative efforts of parents, teachers, administrators and community members.
Now, to my astonishment, organizers for such pro-privatization groups like Stand for Children and New Schools