11 Reasons why Seattle’s Preschool for all Proposition 1B is a bad idea
In the last few days I was alerted to some information that I find the most egregious about Seattle Councilmember Tim Burgess’ Preschool for All plan that is now Proposition 1B and I am therefore placing it as #1 on the list, revising the list from 10 Reasons Why to 11 Reasons Why Proposition 1B is truly a bad idea. This first one is long but stay with me.
1. I was assured by those supporting Prop 1B that only one test would be given to preschoolers at the end of the year to ensure that they were “kindergarten ready”. Wrong. (Actually this is wrong on many levels. Didyou need to be tested to find out if you were “kindergarten ready”?)
Since then, I found out some very disturbing information. Funds so far have been used to punish schools by taking away money from programs when test scores do not meet standards established by the Families and Education Levy committee and staff.
If you look at page 39 of the 2012-2013 Annual Report provided by Seattle’s Families and Education Levy, you will see under Innovation Schools: Beacon Hill Internationalthat there was a target in terms of percentage of students who should reach a specified goal. (This goal was established by city Office for Education staff.)
The student population tested did not reach that goal. Under the heading of % of Contract Target Achieved, you see 79.9%. Full performance pay is achieved only when 90% of a given performance target is achieved, something that is not shown in this chart. What that means is that there is a proportion of money taken away from the school or program when less than 90% of a target is achieved. So, if you look at the various schools and program you see that many of the schools did not meet a specified goal determined by those who have no understanding of what is happening in the classroom and using MAP test scores. That means money lost to these schools and students – in fact levy-funded schools and programs collectively lost $322,563 in performance pay in 2012-2013 as a result of failing to achieve academic targets, including test scores (pg 37) . This is just like the No Child Left Behind program that we wanted to get away from but more insidious.
According to the same report, on page 38, the pre-K students are to be assessed twice 11 Reasons why Seattle’s Preschool for all Proposition 1B is a bad idea | Seattle Education: