Thursday, February 28, 2013

Children of the Core: Our Kids are at Risk – @ the chalk face

Children of the Core: Our Kids are at Risk – @ the chalk face:


Children of the Core: Our Kids are at Risk

51b3oNSMFnL._SY300_ (1)The more and more I see how the education “reform” movement is operating, the more it makes me ill.  I wish I were exaggerating with that statement, but I’m not.  Every time I hear about some millionaire telling us to increase class sizes, or some high-paid wannabe teacher tells us that teachers are the problem with America, it makes me want to vomit.  I get sick because these are people who pretend to care about kids, with fancy names like StudentsFirst.  But they don’t care about our kids.  Not at all.  These are people who are so addicted to their own ideas and bravado, that they can’t see past their own images on TV.
Teachers know this, and so do many parents and education experts.  And the more I learned, the more I realized that the only way to truly get this to turn around and to make it about kids and their futures is to try to tell more and more parents and teachers and lawmakers–and whoever else will listen–that they are being lied to.  They are being led by false promises and false ideas.  The Common Core State Standards are not going to get our kids ready for life.  Race to the Top is not going to narrow the achievement gap.  Michelle Rhee has no idea what she’s talking about.  And Bill Gates wants your kid to know how to take tests on a computer in a classroom with 70 other kids.
The news doesn’t tell us this.  The media echoes the messages of the ones who are hellbent on hurting our kids