NEIFPE Answers Reformer’s Questions
I’m a member of NEIFPE, the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education(Facebook page: HERE and @NEIFPE on Twitter).
Last week we received an email from someone who is “not a public school teacher,” but “works in a public charter school” and is taking a “class” delivered by the Institute for Quality Education (affiliated with Hoosiers for Quality Education), an “education reform” group in Indiana. The writer asked us to answer three questions. He correctly answered the first, using the group’s mission statement. The other two he phrased in “reformy” ways implying that we were for forced attendance at local public schools and that we want to strip privately run schools (charters and parochial schools) of their funds.
To his credit, he did ask us to clarify whether or not we agreed with his answers. We did not agree with two of them, of course, and below are the three questions he asked along with our answers.
Thanks to the NEIFPE team for their work in composing this response.
From time to time, people have asked us who we are and what we do. Recently, we received a letter asking us to answer the following questions about our organization. Here are the questions and our responses.What is the goal/vision for the organization?NEIFPE’s mission statement outlines the goal of support for public education.We are citizens, teachers, administrators, and parents united by our support for public education and by concerns for its future. Recent federal and state reform measures have created an over-emphasis on testing and have turned over public education to private interests. We believe that these reforms threaten the well-being of our children and jeopardize their futures. Our goal is to inform ourselves and to start community discussion about the impact of these measures on our public schools and, more importantly, on our children.How is this organization working to improve education in Indiana?NEIFPE advocates for a strong public school system that serves all children in the state. We believe education will be improved when education policy isNEIFPE Answers Reformer’s Questions | Live Long and Prosper:
