#optout needs school leaders not politicians.
When I first got involved in the opt out movement I regularly tried to engage school leaders (principals, superintendents, assessment coordinators) in a positive discussion about the opt out motive. Things didn’t always go very positively. Check out an older post that seems incredibly relevant today.
“If you oppose state testing, please contact your Senator and Representative… they can change, what we cannot.” Superintendent.
Since our district’s superintendent has decided to actively fight the opt-out movement I have tried to engage him by sending him articles that document the folly of high stakes testing and writing letter’s explaining the opt out motives. I thought that we might enter into a civil discussion concerning government mandated public school reform as defined by the corporate elite.
I came across a Marion Brady article posted by Valerie Strauss. The Brady article hit some excellent points so I decided to forward it to the administrators of our district — superintendent included. I received a response rather quickly to the Brady article from our superintendent.
The superintendent said that he agreed that research does not support high stakes testing and even mentioned listening to a Yong Zhao speech. However, according to our superintendent, the problem was our politicians. In fact he said, “The politicians are deaf to hearing about research.”
This is a super observation because it is absolutely true. At this point in time, I also have no faith that our politicians have any intentions of “listening” to research challenging the failing school narrative and halting the high stakes testing regime. Therefore I sent our superintendent the response below.
Dear Superintendent,You are absolutely right. However, the bigger problem is that politicians are not going to start listening to research anytime soon. You’ve met with them. I’ve met with them. They’re not going to budge unless something forces them to budge. Take a look at their campaign contributors. All the major testing companies are funneling millions of dollars to the politicians. Research doesn’t stand a chance against a system that is designed to ignore research.That is why I want you to understand that the parents that opt out are not doing it because they want to hurt you, the teachers, or the school. They’re doing it because politicians have taken you and the teachers out of the equation. You’re not allowed to#optout needs school leaders not politicians. | BustED Pencils:
