PSAT for 5-7-13: Say no to 36!
When it come to class size, research shows that less really is more.
Raise Your Hand Illinois came to prominence in the spring of 2010 with their “Say No to 37″ campaign, a protest against CPS plans to balance the budget by raising class size.
Now RYH is sponsoring a petition against the Chicago Public Schools space utilization formula used to declare dozens of schools “underutilized” and therefore in danger of closure this year. According to this formula, 36 children in a room is considered an “efficient” use of space, i.e. you can have 36 students in every homeroom in CPS and not be considered overcrowded. RYH charges that many of CPS’ plans for closings will lead to overcrowding next year.
The petition asks CPS to revise their space utilization policy.
For Public Schools Action Tuesday (a day early) please sign and share their petition.
Raise Your Hand Illinois came to prominence in the spring of 2010 with their “Say No to 37″ campaign, a protest against CPS plans to balance the budget by raising class size.Now RYH is sponsoring a petition against the Chicago Public Schools space utilization formula used to declare dozens of schools “underutilized” and therefore in danger of closure this year. According to this formula, 36 children in a room is considered an “efficient” use of space, i.e. you can have 36 students in every homeroom in CPS and not be considered overcrowded. RYH charges that many of CPS’ plans for closings will lead to overcrowding next year.
The petition asks CPS to revise their space utilization policy.
For Public Schools Action Tuesday (a day early) please sign and share their petition.
Testing creating crisis in student mental health
I am sharing this letter from Joyce Feilke, a school counselor in Austin,Texas. Joyce reached out to PURE with this powerful letter, which she has sent to two Texas state legislators. Joyce has a Masters in Counseling and Psychology from the University of North Texas, and has been a school counselor since 1980.
We are asking other mental health professionals to speak out similarly on behalf of our children whose mental, social and emotional health is at serious risk due to the corporate reform scourges ofschool closings, high-stakes testing, and other so-called reforms. Please share Joyce’s letter, and help us reach out to more child development and mental health professionals for more testimony, letters, research, and other resources. Parents especially need to know more about what is being done to our children in the name of school reform.
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COPY SENT TO STATE SENATORS: JANE NELSON & KIRK WATSON 4/16/2013
Dear Senator Kirk Watson, Educators, & Medical Professionals,
I am writing to request your help in changing our current school obsession with testing. I believe the impact it is having on the mental health of the younger children in Texas has reached a level of crisis. I think we need an Education Task Force for crisis intervention.
For the past 30 years, I have worked as a counselor in some of the best schools in Texas, most
