Why New Yorkers shouldn’t hold their breath for real education change
Carol Burris is a veteran educator who was just named executive director of the nonprofit Network for Public Education’s foundation. She recently took early retirement after 15 years as principal of South Side High School in the Rockville Centre School District in New York. She was named New York’s 2013 High School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and was tapped as the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State. Burris has also written several books, numerous articles and many posts on this blog about the seriously botched implementation of school reform in her state — including the Common Core standards and the implementation of high-stakes Core-aligned exams — and about the misuse and abuse of high-stakes standardized tests.
Here is a new post by Burris about a meeting she and other public education activists just had with MaryEllen Elia, New York’s new education commission, and school reform in the state.
By Carol Burris
MaryEllen Elia, the new education commissioner of New York, is on a listening tour. She is charged with repackaging the New York Regents Reform message and delivering it with more finesse than her predecessor, John King.
Earlier this week, fellow members of the New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) and I had the opportunity to meet with Ms. Elia. Education historian and activist Diane Ravitch arranged the meeting and was also a participant in our discussion.
Ms. Elia was friendly and generous with her time. Her interest in the issues we raised appeared to be both genuine and sincere. She politely listened to every speaker. We appreciated being a stop of the tour.
Even as Elia listens, she speaks. There are patterns and sound bites that appear in newspaper accounts of her visits. She carefully sidesteps questions. Stock lines are repeated—“I think of myself as a teacher,” “Opt outs are not good for teachers and parents,” and “I am totally in favor of accountability” are a few. During our NYSAPE meeting, she focused on the change of standardized tests for students in the state, from vendors Pearson to Questar, and how exams will move from paper and pencil to computer. But discontent runs far deeper than the technicalities of the test.
Although her appointment was intended to signal change, how much real Why New Yorkers shouldn’t hold their breath for real education change - The Washington Post: