Discovering Hidden Allies
A New York mother of a third grader shared this story on Facebook. The lesson of the story is; you never know what you will get when you speak up.
This mother had opted her son out of standardized testing in January and only recently discovered that his homework had transition to being all about preparation for the standardized tests coming in April. Her first clue was that his homework was taking 1-2 hours longer than usual. Since he was not going to take the tests, she told her son he didn’t have to do the homework which “opened a dialogue” with his teachers. This resulted in the mom taking wordprocessor in hand and crafting a letter addressed to both teachers, school administration and the district, venting her fears, concerns and frustrations.
Her son brought the letter to school. Shortly after class began, both teachers called this mother from a separate room on speakerphone. One of the teachers was hysterical! The other sobbing! At first the mother was afraid something had happened to her son. Instead, she discovered that the teachers’ emotions stemmed from the fact that in their entire careers no parent has ANY parent spoken out so proficiently, emotionally, and strong fully against the many wrongs that are being shoved down the throats of those in the once highly regarded NY public school system. They encouraged her to share her letter widely.
I share with you this mother’s letter below.
April 8, 2014 To: a district in NYS
Re: My son, 8 years old, 3rd grade
Re: My son, 8 years old, 3rd grade
Hello,
I am so sorry I missed your call yesterday. I understand that you both have some serious concerns regarding the message, retold to you by my son, about his homework requirements, and how they relate to the decision made by me, to refuse him taking the CCLS state tests, and whether or not he was accurate in relaying my message. You also notified me that you “knew what kind of parent I Discovering Hidden Allies | Missouri Education Watchdog:
