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Open Your Eyes

3/31/2015

 
The article below was originally posted at DianeRavitch.net.  Even though it is another state, you will see there are striking similarities to people, organizations, departments, and politicians in Tennessee.  These ideas in Tennessee are not original, and they are not working in other states.  (Emphasis below added by TNParents)

MUST READ: Revelations of a Disillusioned Reformer
By Diane Ravitch - March 28, 2015
WOW.

This is a
 remarkable and candid story
 of Jorge Cabrera, who joined the reform movement as a believer. He wanted to help the children of Bridgeport, where he grew up. He wanted better schools. He was a community organizer for Excel Schools.

And then he learned the truth.  
It’s an incredible story that confirms your darkest suspicions:
A Repentant Reformer's Reflections
For nearly three years, I had been involved in what has often been referred to by some as the “education reform movement” in Bridgeport.  In 2012, I was presented with a unique opportunity to work for a new local organization that would work “with the community” to reform the public schools.  The mission was to work towards helping Bridgeport students increase their academic performance and by extension, I thought, lower the dropout rate, increase the rate of college attendance and teach parents how to effectively advocate for the resources and supports their children needed to succeed in school.  As a Bridgeport public school graduate and the first person in my family to attend and graduate from an institution of higher learning, I knew, first hand, how the trajectory of one’s life could be dramatically changed with the attainment of that often coveted credential…a college degree.  Further, as a native Bridgeporter I was sold on the prospect of working with the community I grew up in and loved to help improve educational outcomes for thousands of Bridgeport students.  However, what I did not fully appreciate at the time, but soon found out, was that I was smack in the middle of a simmering firestorm that would divide the community I cared for so dearly and force me to question my own assumptions about “education reform” and the people in front and behind this “movement.”

Though I did not fully know it at the time, a series of manipulative and deceitful political moves were made before I began my work in the “movement” that would be revealed to me in over 200 conversations with many Bridgeport leaders and friends.  These “moves” would severely taint the work I would embark on and proved to be a major stumbling block to organizing the community.

Despite these challenges, I began my work full of hope and excited to put my skills and experience toward the noble goal of improving the Bridgeport school system. Unfortunately, what I learned in the coming years was the 
incredible lengths some people with access to great wealth and political power would go to in order to privatize an already overburdened and underfunded school district and the ideology that undergirded it.

This is my story. 
The Best and the Brightest
As I began my work in the “education reform movement” in Bridgeport, I noticed a plethora of ivy league educated “consultants” and “transformation leaders” that littered the often loose coalition of funders, new organizations and executive directors. From the beginning, it was clear that many of these new “leaders” that were emerging were well credentialed. They had graduated from prestigious universities and, it was presumed (though not by me), that alone qualified them to lead. Many were very young (recent graduates), energetic, unmarried with no children and little life experience. They often exhibited a cultish commitment to “the movement.” Their zeal for “education reform” and “saving the children” often resulted in a bizarre abdication of critical thinking that made a mockery of their high priced “education.” 

For instance, in many meetings I attended, many of these acolytes extolled the virtues of charter schools as the only solution to closing the achievement gap in Bridgeport but never once did anyone bother to discuss the ample research (i.e. “Teaching with Poverty in Mind”) available regarding the negative impact of poverty on academic achievement or that Bridgeport had several public magnet schools that outperformed (as measured by standardized test scores) many charter schools. These magnet schools had long track records (20 plus years) of success and I assumed we should advocate for what we know, firmly, works. Despite this evidence, there was never any serious discussion regarding expanding magnet school options or advocating for high quality, universal preschool programs (research shows the achievement gap begins at this level).

The entire approach to “education reform” lacked any serious understanding of the many variables (i.e., social-emotional issues, poverty, funding, English language learners) that clearly effect a child’s ability to learn. Anytime a more dynamic and multifaceted approach to closing the achievement gap was raised it was quickly dismissed as “making excuses.” The atmosphere vacillated between a callous indifference to the real challenges Bridgeport children faced and arrogant dismissiveness. Permeated throughout these various organizations that formed a loose network of power was 
a culture that prized blind dedication to the “mission” and socially affirmed and promoted those who obeyed and exhibited “urgency” in “reforming” the “failing schools.” 

The people in “the movement” made it clear that it was up to the “best and brightest” of minds to “transform” the “system” as “outside influencers.” By “best and brightest” they almost exclusively meant people who would do their bidding without question and certainly not anyone that would exhibit any degree of independent or critical thought. On more than one occasion, when the argument was made that the solutions to the multilayered challenge of public education needed to come from the people and required an authentic, engaging process with the Bridgeport community the response was often glib at best. I recall in one strategic planning meeting when I advocated for authentic engagement and patience to allow parents the time to become informed on the various issues and was told to, “just use language to convince” the parents and impress upon them a sense of “urgency.” Another person told me, “It’s all about how you say it…..”

“I began to sense that someone or something I was not fully aware of was calling the shots behind the scenes and many of these young ivy leaguers were the mercenaries on the front lines tasked with implementing the agenda. This whole enterprise was quickly becoming astroturfing and I was in the middle of it. Worse, I was starting to feel like I was hired to put lipstick on a pig and it was beginning to burn me on the inside. Nevertheless, through it all, I never gave up hope and tried to create spaces for honest, authentic and fact based discussions inside “the movement” with limited success.”
The Night in Shining Armor
My first meeting with Paul Vallas was like a whirlwind.  He barely came up for air! He spoke in a rapid fire cadence and despite my best efforts I could not engage him in any substantive conversations.  He rode into the city as the new superintendent of schools like a knight in shining armor.  Immediately and repeatedly, I was told by many in the “reform community” that Vallas was a “godsend,” a “transformational leader” with an international reputation of turning school systems around, increasing academic outcomes and changing the lives of, literally, thousands of students. The praise heaped on him was ubiquitous. He often spoke in soundbites and we were told that we were to be a “critical friend” to the new superintendent.  We would support him when he was right and criticize him when he was wrong.  Our main constituents, I was told, were the families and students.  Good enough, I thought at the time.  In reality, we were dispatched to drum up support in the community for virtually every policy change or initiative proposed by Vallas.  Any thoughtful questioning of the efficacy of his proposals was met with stone silence or the injection of the “urgency” argument which was intended to and had the effect of silencing any meaningful discussion.  If one pushed too hard to open up an authentic discussion regarding Vallas’s proposals “the movement” would send strong signals that the questioner was being disloyal and that such questioning was deemed heresy.  It was as if a “bunker mentality” had descended on many in “the movement.” You were either with them or against them.  Despite this hostile environment, on one occasion, I was able to engage Vallas in a rare moment of reflection and candor.  We were discussing different school models and supports for students and I casually asked Vallas if he thought traditional neighborhood public schools could succeed if they were given adequate funding and supports for students, teachers and families.  His response was very revealing. He stated, “Yes! Of course they can, but my charter (school) friends don’t like it when I say that.”  It was a rare, candid moment that spoke volumes and provided a rare glimpse into the mindset of the “reformers.”  The veil was starting to be lifted.  As I continued to have extensive conversations with many community leaders I began to appreciate the deceitful and manipulative manner in which Vallas was hired to lead the Bridgeport school system.  It was all unfolding before me and the truth was emerging.
Power to the People?
The crown jewel of the “education reform movement” in Bridgeport was the 2012 charter revision ballot question that would of given the Mayor the authority to appoint the entire board of education, among other powers.  The “movement” was in a frenzy to win this election.  We were told that “the people woud decide” and “they (the people) have the power.”  All of the work we were engaged in to build relationships, trust and educate parents regarding the school system and education policy was abruptly halted to focus on winning this ballot question election.  It was a pressure cooker!  When I tried to actually read the proposed language changes to the city’s charter and have discussions with parents so that both I and they were fully informed on what we were asking people to vote on, I was quickly pushed aside in favor of a group of highly compensated New York City media consultants who came in and began directing instead of facilitating the “discussions.”  Immediately, the focus was on marketing and sloganeering.  Worse, we were trying to build the plane while it was in the air! The whole thing was rushed and disorganized. We were told to make sure we communicated to the public that voting in favor of the city charter change was good for parents, students and would lead to better academic outcomes.  The insinuation was that anyone who was against the charter revision changes was anti-child or anti-education. When parents or community leaders asked questions that required more substantive, fact based responses we were coached to respond to everything in soundbites and with shallow arguments that lacked any grounding in reality.  It was the worse kind of insult to the community’s intelligence and pandered to the worse aspects of human natureand—it almost worked.
Revelation and the Shock Doctrine
My nearly three years in the “movement” in Bridgeport revealed to me the incredible lengths that private, often unseen and unaccountable power will go to in order to create and capitalize on a crisis.  In Bridgeport, that crisis in our public education system was created by powerful forces at the local and state level who systematically starved the school system by withholding necessary school funding (Shock #1) which then created a crisis that set the stage for a takeover (Shock #2) of the Bridgeport board of education on the eve of the fourth of July in 2011.  Essentially, these forces were engaged in a form of social engineering under the guise of “urgency” and “reform.” 

To be clear, in this “movement” there are people who have good intentions and sincerely want to improve the conditions of Bridgeport’s public schools but they do not sit at the tables of power when strategic decisions are made and their voices are often silenced. Their talents, skills and knowledge are often used to serve a larger, opaque agenda that is dictated by a radical ideology of deregulation and privatization.  Shot throughout most, if not all, of the education reform “movement” you will find the radical ideology of economist Milton Friedman.  Looking back, there were moments when this mindset (disaster capitalism) was revealed to me in meetings.  On one occasion, a very influential operator in the “education reform” community was discussing the “amazing opportunity” that revealed itself after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans decimated the population and led to the “charterization” of the public school system. He expounded that sometimes you have to, “…burn the village to save it…” and that what we (the “reform community”) are essentially involved in is, “creative destruction.”  Worse, he argued that we needed a “clean slate” in order for real “change” to happen in the school system in Bridgeport.  But this was my home.  This was the city I grew up in and where most of my family lived and worked.  You want to burn down their city!? You want to destroy it so you can be creative!?  For whom?  It was all surreal.  I was done.

In Naomi Klein’s book and, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,” she outlines how powerful economic and political forces harness terrible shocks to implement radical policies to privatize and profit from public resources.  In Bridgeport, this ideology played itself out on our public school system and, for a season at least, seemed to be the dominant ideology on the verge of assuming complete power over the public school system.  We almost succeeded.  Thanks to the people of the City of Bridgeport—we did not and that’s a good thing.

Jorge Cabrera was employed by the “education reform” organization Excel Bridgeport from 2012-2015–the organization on the front lines of the “movement” in Bridgeport.

If this reminds you of someone, you might consider forwarding this blog to them.  Or leave a copy on their desk.  Or mail it to them.
Your eyes have been opened to the private money and corruption that shapes the politics of education in Tennessee and across the nation.  You agree that education should be about educating children, not about money and power.  Public education must be strengthened and sustained for future generations.  Don't believe the lies of the reformers.  Be smart.  When in doubt, follow the money and you'll inevitably find their true motive. 
Charters, Vouchers, Common Core, standardized testing = money for those at the top

Big anti-Common Core meeting in Johnson City this week

11/17/2014

 
Fox News is rumored to be covering this anti-Common Core meeting in Johnson City, TN this week...
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This meeting is open to anyone interested in learning about Common Core and Islam in schools. Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, will be the guest speaker. 
Click HERE for more information

Gov Haslam's desperate attempt to save Common Core, despite major flaws with his plan:

10/22/2014

 
In a desperate political move to save the Common Core in Tennessee, Governor Haslam has announced there shall be a "full vetting" of the Common Core.  There are some huge flaws with his plan that people should know:

  1. The "independent" organization that will be handling the entire process is not "independent" at all.  It is heavily funded by Bill Gates.  $11.8 million dollars so far has been given to the Southern Regional Education Board specifically to support Common Core.  Click HERE to see the millions in grant money flowing from Gates to SREB specifically to support his Common Core initiative.  This organization is biased and exists to SAVE Common Core.
     
  2. The committee members of these review panels include Common Core cheerleaders from the lucrative reform movement such asCandice McQueen (Miss "I love it for your kids, but not for mine in private school") and Meghan Little, chief academic officer for KIPP Nashville which has a very high rate of kicking kids out conveniently before the TCAP testing window.
     
  3. The "review" won't be finished until after the 2015 Legislative Session so Legislators won't be able to take any action regarding the results until 2016.

Click HERE to see the FAQ from Governor Haslam with more details.
 
 
Will TN Legislators be fooled with this stalling tactic?

Puke

10/22/2014

 
The awareness & outrage over standardized testing is growing.  A Knox County School District meeting this week about the SAT-10 test for young elementary students lasted over 5 hours.  Some parents who wished to speak during public comments weren't able to because they had to leave to put their children to bed.  Some strong parents & teachers stayed until 10:30pm to be heard.  

A frustrated TN Mom wrote the letter below during TCAP testing last year.  She wanted to know how to send it to someone who could make a difference, so we are happy to pass this along to all the School board members, Superintendents, Senators, Representatives, Commissioner Kevin Huffman, Governor Haslam, and to the media.  It is easy to see why parents are so upset:

Dear important elected official who can make a difference,

I know you are a very busy and important person, but I would really appreciate it if you could read my letter.  It matters very much to me and my family.  See, I just cleaned up puke.  

Yes, vomit.  My youngest daughter, who is 9 years old and in the 3rd grade, is stressed to the point that she threw up.  She can’t sleep she is so worried.  She loved school until just this past month.  Now, everything that is normal and consistent in her school has changed because they are in TCAP testing prep mode.  Instead of being with her teacher that she loves, her class is herded like cattle between 5 different 3rd grade teachers each day to be drilled on TCAP questions.  This will be the schedule for 3 weeks.  Drill, drill, drill.  No weekly spelling words or literature stories anymore because they have to be ready for THE test.  In music class, they were taught songs about testing and “Zapping the TCAP”.  Her guidance counselor even taught the whole class how to deal with stress by practicing deep breathing just in case students freaked out on THE test.  (Which is like me telling you not to freak out if a giant spider crawls on your head because it just might happen.  To kids, that will be ALL they can worry about until it really comes true).  Also, her school, which is normally a cheerful, bright environment full of colorful artwork will soon be stripped bare and their school will look like a prison to prevent cheating.  Blank concrete cinder-block block walls and empty cork bulletin boards in every classroom will be what children see for testing week (and really for the rest of the year, since there are only a few weeks left before summer break).  The only thing allowed on their desk will be #2 pencils.  

How do I know my vomiting 9 year old isn’t really sick?  Déjà vu…  It was just a few years ago that our oldest child was only 8 years old in the 2nd grade when she started having stomach aches.  8 years old.  We thought it was a virus at first, but when it didn't get better, we took her to her pediatrician.  The pediatrician thought it could be a food allergy, so over the course of a few months, we tried all sorts of remedies from eliminating dairy & gluten, and adding probiotics to her diet.  Her stomach issues only got worse.  She missed quite a bit of school.  The pediatrician was perplexed and referred her to a GI doctor who sent us to an outpatient facility to have our 8 year old daughter put to sleep so he could put cameras inside her little body.  He looked at every inch of her intestinal tract and cut out tissue samples to biopsy.  His diagnosis:  our child was perfectly healthy, thank God!  The next week after the biopsies were back, he asked her some questions and diagnosed her with:  Anxiety.  Specifically, anxiety over the testing at school.  8 years old.  He said he is seeing more and more of this test anxiety in children, especially in the children who are A+ level over-achievers like my daughter.   We had no clue she was worried about the standardized test at school (Our child called this test "TCAP," but the test for 2nd graders was really the SAT10 test which is basically the same thing as TCAP except for 2nd graders)

I know my kids better than anyone on the planet.  No matter how much my husband and I tell our children that the stupid TCAP test doesn't matter, they know better.  They see how the teachers are stressed over it.  Kids are very intuitive and pick up on things.  I want to opt my children out of the stupid tests, but the district won’t allow it.  The district says the state law won't allow it.  If we keep them home on test days, their grades on their report cards will drop from A’s & B’s to C’s & D’s.  I hate this.  You don’t know how much I hate this.  There are curse words I’m thinking of right now (but I won't say aloud) because of the greedy testing companies and politicians who force this on my children.  There is no good reason for this.  This test doesn't help my children learn.  We won’t even get their scores until the fall, a few months after they have moved into the next grades!  If we could afford private schools, my children wouldn't even have to take these high-stakes tests.  Do politicians even realize how bad it is in public schools?

And this stupid Common Core math makes me want to puke, too, right along with my child.  Don’t get me wrong… I agree with high standards.  I agree with understanding clear concepts.  However, I don’t see the point in doing math with these backward, confusing methods.  Drawing arrays and hoops on a number line is NOT the clear, simple way to solve a simple equation.  It confuses younger kids by showing them so many methods that they can't remember any of them correctly.  This new math is only making the curriculum companies richer.  

Even scarier, I sure as heck don’t want the government or a company contracted with the government tracking my child's personal information or guiding my child into a career path based on test results.  That is my children’s right to decide for themselves.  Their data should be protected, and we, as their parents, should be able to control and protect who has access to it.  The FERPA law doesn’t protect my children, it protects the companies who seek to profit from my children’s data.  There is a big difference between the two.

Don’t tell me that Common Core is “only standards” or that the problems are from “bad implementation” or that “Common Core doesn't require data mining”.  I know better.  I've read the Race to the Top Application and all the Appendixes to it.  It is there.  It is inseparable.  It is undeniable.  It boasts how the government will track children, a "360 degree view of the child" from PreK through the workforce.  TN agreed to do Common Core before the standards were even written.  In exchange for money.  Money that is long gone.  Money that didn’t trickle down to my children’s classrooms.  In fact, there are more students in my children’s classes now because our district had to “excess” teachers and increase class sizes because the money is so tight in our district to pay for all these stupid tests.  Teachers are stressed.  Children are stressed.  Parents are stressed.  Our kids are being boxed in to standards and tests that nobody can prove even work.

I’m not the only parent who feels this way.  It is the main topic of conversation at PTO meetings and while waiting to pick our kids up after school.  I know it is wrong of me, but I feel a sense of relief knowing that it isn't just my children having these reactions; their kids are barfing and crying over Common Core and all this crazy testing, too.  Teachers in our community are even risking their jobs to hold public meetings against Common Core and testing.  This anger in the community is not going away.  

I don’t think politicians or the media realize what a hot button this is.  There is no Republican or Democrat party to pin the blame on for these problems.  Parents are angry at both sides for forcing this on our children.  When Democrats are willing to vote for a Tea Party candidate if that person says he will abolish Common Core, you know something is very, very wrong.

Which is why I am writing this letter right now, even though I should be washing the pile of puke-covered laundry.  Please, I beg of you, STOP Common Core.  STOP this incessant testing.  Let our kids have normal childhoods and enjoy learning.  Stop pushing OUR kids in ways that YOUR children in private schools are not forced to do.

Thank you for reading my letter,
A mother of stressed children in Tennessee

 

Another school board in TN passes a Resolution against Common Core

10/15/2014

 
Lakeland School District in Tennessee unanimously passed a Resolution against Common Core State Standards on Monday, October 13, 2014.  

Important facts to know about Lakeland School District:
  • Lakeland, TN is a middle-class suburb near Memphis.  
  • Lakeland school district is brand new; it just opened in August 2014.  Formerly, Lakeland was a part of the merged Shelby County & Memphis City School mega-district for one year.  Before the merger, Lakeland was a part of the high-performing Shelby County school district. 
  • Lakeland has one school that serves elementary with plans to build a combined middle/high school soon.  Their 6-12 grade students currently attend schools in neighboring districts. 
  • When elected last year, their school board members did not run on anti-Common Core platforms.  Their board members received no campaign funding from out-of-state organizations.  They have zero affiliation with the Koch Brother's Americans For Prosperity organization.  In fact, their board members are not particularly connected with any political party.  Their board members are pro-public school (not charters or vouchers).
  • Laura Harrison, one of the Lakeland school board members, says this Resolution was not a political move at all.  She said that their board members have heard from many parents, teachers, and constituents in their district who are opposed to Common Core for many different reasons.  The board members simply voted for what their community wanted.  
  • Lakeland's 5 school board members all have children currently in public schools.  The professions of the school board members include: a lawyer, an engineer, a teacher, a business owner, and a Human Resources professional.
  • Representative Ron Lollar and Senator Mark Norris are the elected state legislators for Lakeland.  Mark Norris is the current Senate Majority leader and, as such, carries Governor Haslam's bills.  

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Which brave school district will be next?

Will Governor Haslam ever get the message?

Or will legislators have to pull more stealth moves to get past the Governor's strategically-placed committee chairs and phony fiscal notes to ultimately eliminate Common Core like they had to do during the last Legislative session to stop the pricey PARCC test? 


Our kids are waiting...

In case you missed the news

9/25/2014

 
Maybe you didn't read the paper?  (we don't blame you if you didn't).  You still need to know this big news, so we will email it to you.  You don't want to be out of the loop, do you?  You're welcome.
 
THE BIG NEWS:
There was a big, important survey given to teachers in TN by the Tennessee Consortium on Research, Evaluation and Development, an organization that "is responsible for carrying out a detailed, focused program of research as part of Tennessee's Race to the Top grant."  

On this important survey, the biggest shocker (not to us) was that:

56% of the 27,000 Tennessee teachers who responded to the survey want to abandon the standards!

56% of the 27,000 Tennessee teachers who responded to the survey want to abandon the standards!!

56% of the 27,000 Tennessee teachers who responded to the survey want to abandon the standards!!!

and also: 
13% want to delay the implementation 


The next biggest shocker (not to us) was that Governor Haslam announced he plans a full vetting of the Common Core standards sometime in the future.  This is a desperate political move and TN parents aren't fooled.  It is just like the Senate Common Core hearings that were held over a year ago in September 2013.  Anyone seen the report on that, yet?  We assume the report must be stuck in the TCAP results department being aligned and post-equated by t.    

Kids selling stuff to have Common Core materials #unfundedmandates

9/17/2014

 
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We apologize if it is difficult to read the above letter from a TN school asking families to do a fundraiser to pay for Common Core instructional materials.  The parent was so disgusted that she crumpled the letter up and threw it in the trash.  Then she thought better, took it out of the trash, snapped a picture, put it on Facebook with an angry message, tore the letter into tiny pieces, and then threw it away.  

PTAs and PTOs used to do fundraisers to pay for special things for their schools like playgrounds, field trips, and outdoor classrooms.  Now, many school organizations are fundraising to purchase Common Core materials and computers for Common Core testing.  This is so sad for those children.


Conversations and Facebook posts from fed-up parents about fuzzy, frustrating common core math and Islam homework assignments are multiplying.  And the school year just started!  This Common Core commotion is not going away.  


Common Core is not rigorous, it is ridiculous... 
Meaning, it is making some people ridiculously rich. 


This week's Education Summit that Governor Haslam is hosting in Nashville is one of those exclusive events for ridiculously rich people to attend.  The people invited to Haslam's exclusive event are mostly all supporters of his reforms and of Common Core.  They are "invested" as "stakeholders" in public education, and many of them make six-figure salaries from these reforms.  In fact, some of these "stakeholders" (such as SCORE) would not have jobs without Common Core in Tennessee (thanks to money from Bill Gates).  According to SCORE's tax return, Jamie Woodson, CEO of SCORE and former TN Senator, made a sweet salary package of $328,361 (including a $25,000 bonus) and SCORE COO, Sharon Roberts, made over $160,000.  It is an obvious case of the Governor is stark naked, but nobody wants to say anything because they are all making big bucks from selling him the invisible clothes.

It is also very important to notice that there are no public school parents included at the table of the Governor's Summit.  The only parent representation is the TN Parent Teacher Association (PTA).  But, did you know that the TN PTA executive board members do not even have children currently in school? and that the National PTA has accepted millions of dollars from Bill Gates to support Common Core, some of  which was given to PTA before the Common Core standards were even finished?  

If you are lucky enough to be invited to Haslam's dog & pony show, be sure to stop and talk to the protesting parents and grandparents outside.  Ask them how Common Core is affecting their children.  Ask them why they are refusing to allow their children to take the tests.  If you're wondering where all the teachers are, they are at school teaching because notice that this summit was strategically scheduled on a school day at a time that teachers are unable to attend.  (Although, there may be some teachers there who take one of their precious personal days to bravely protest for their students).

Follow the money, and you'll find the motives.  That is what TN Parents does for free.
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Parents aren't fooled

8/27/2014

 
These are 2 recent articles, shared with permission, from the Momma Bears of Tennessee about TN's Department of Education makeover:

Rebranding the TN Department of Education
08/18/2014

Remember the bid for a PR firm that that TN Parents wrote about in the spring?  The TN Department of Education desperately sought the help of marketing professionals to fix their dreadful image.  Well, obviously, a firm was hired and is working their makeover magic because there's a monumental difference in the propaganda coming out of the TN DOE lately.  

First, check out the TN DOE website makeover:
BEFORE:
(website screenshot from March 2014)
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The old website had an overcast, almost foreboding, grayish blah color scheme.  Kevin Huffman's name and Governor Haslam's picture were both prominently displayed at the top of every page.  Photos on the page included important people posing with other important people.  Like the other government pages, the watermark at the top and bottom of the webpage showed mountains, which could imply the federal Race to the Top program that everyone hates, or it could be interpreted to mean that East Tennessee is more important than the flat land in the western part of the state.  Take your pick.
AFTER: 
(screenshot from August 2014)
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As you can see, the new website has lots of changes.  There are large pops of happy colors and candid pictures of cute kids.  There's a tab for "community".  Gone are the banners with Kevin Huffman's name and Governor Haslam's smirk on every single subpage because maybe that expensive PR firm realized that people's blood pressure skyrocketed every time they saw it. Or maybe, just maybe, this is a foreshadowing that Kevin Huffman may not be around much longer?  Momma Bears can only hope!  Also missing from the new webpage are the smoggy mountain images.  We guess we are not racing to the top anymore now that the entire $500 million prize we won is spent?  

It is kinda funny how the new website says, "We've redesigned and reorganized our site from the ground up with you in mind."  Gee, thanks, for keeping me in mind, when in all honesty, we are sure that the only thing on your mind was: "How On Earth Do We QUICK Fix This Awful Image Problem That Governor Haslam and His Appointed Commissioner of Education, Kevin Huffman, Have Created Before Election Time in November So That The Governor Gets Re-elected And We All Keep Our Jobs?"

And, of course, this dishonest image is still on both websites: 
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Because that is the ONLY thing that the Governor has to cling to.  TCAP scores this year were flatter than a puddle of water on Tennessee asphalt in August.  There is no miracle, not from Common Core, not from this new RTI2 mandate, not from the awful teacher evaluation rubrics or TVAAS system, and most certainly not from giving a chunk of our poorest public schools to charters through the ASD because those schools are lower than ever.  

TCAP scores weren't even released in time for student's final report cards in the spring because they had to adjust the cut scores, take out the non-common core questions to boost scores, and figure out a way for this new PR firm to triage the massive outrage and somehow put a positive spin on the dismal results.

Here is why that claim of "Largest Growth on 2013 NAEP" is not truthful:  
The Governor and Huffman keep saying it everywhere they go, and probably even mutter it in their sleep, but they neglect to mention one ginormous fact:   TN passed a new law the year before the 2013 NAEP test which drastically changed the pool of students eligible to be tested for NAEP.  This new law prohibited 3rd graders in Tennessee from being promoted to 4th grade if they were not proficient.  So, for the first time in TN history, 3rd graders were not socially promoted to 4th grade.  The low-scoring students were left behind in 3rd grade!  Voila!  Don't let the non-proficient kids in to 4th grade to take the test and you magically lift the whole state's average score compared to other states in the nation!  
(A note about NAEP tests in case you don't know:  the NAEP is given every 2 years to randomly selected 4th and 8th graders in every state in the nation.  It is required by the Federal Government to get our federal tax dollars for our schools.  Click HERE and HERE to read more about the NAEP and how is manipulated to suit politicians).


Next, NEW Emails from TNDOE: 
          I Heart You soooooooo much!!!

Subscribers to the TNDOE weekly emails noticed a big difference in the weekly emails, too.  Prior emails were cold, factual, and condescending.  The paragraphs were blocky and had the attitude of "Do This New Policy Or Else".

The new email sent to subscribers last week had hearts, smiles, friendships, relationships, unicorns, and rainbows.  (Okay, so not the last 2, but we're not exaggerating about the difference being night and day.)  Here's an excerpt from the new email:
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See? They are not meany-pants dictator bullies...  They are a "team" wearing cute matching shirts and holding signs of love!  (Bonus points to those who can pick out the former Teach For America overpaid staff).

Another big change to the emails is that they are now being sent through Mailchimp, which is an email service that allows the sender to track opens, clicks on links, reports, etc.  The TNDOE loves, loves, loves data so they are probably in data heaven.  
Save the best for last, a special LETTER: 

U R MY BFF 4EVR! 
<3, Bill   XOXOXO

Tennessee teachers were shocked - SHOCKED, I tell you! -  last week to receive personalized emails from the Governor himself.  These letters were addressed to their first names, which left some wondering if they are now considered friends with the Governor.  Bill (we can call him by his first name now, right?) wrote about the way he traveled across the state and had 12 secret meetings with pre-screened teachers and how he listened, oh how he listened, and he just loves teachers and wishes he could pay them more but he has to take care of corporations first.  Okay, so Bill didn't blatantly say that in the letter, but if you read between the lines and know the recent news, it is what our friend, Bill, really meant. 

We bet someone from that fancy new PR firm wrote the letter anyway.  Bill doesn't write letters.  He certainly won't respond to any of ours.  Of course, he has staff that sends out blanket responses because Bill does not have the time to correspond with commoners unless you are pre-screened and agree with Bill's views.  

Not all teachers were fooled by the use of mail-merge fields or by the use of their school email address to try to gain their vote for Bill in November. Other candidates for Governor certainly don't have the luxury, ability, or staffpower to send personalized blanket emails to teachers using their school email addresses, but Bill does.  (Click HERE if you want to see one of those blanket letters Bill sent to a TN teacher)

So, what has changed within the TNDOE?  
        Nothing.  Zip.  Zero.
The same people are still doing the same jobs at the TNDOE and they have the same intentions of forcing Common Core on our children, requiring high-stakes tests on our children, punishing and firing our children's teachers based on our children's test results, and crushing our children's public schools to expand more charter schools in TN so their friends can make big bucks.

The difference is that our tax dollars are now being spent on the best Public Relations Firm our tax money can buy with the goal of fixing the horrible image of the TNDOE, Commissioner Kevin Huffman (for as long as Bill keeps him around as a puppet), and the person who just happens to be up for re-election in November: Bill.  
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Hide & Seek:  TNDOE hides Common Core
08/19/2014

Our last Momma Bear blog focused on the external makeover of the TNDOE: website, email, and Bill's staff's letter to teachers. However, there was one huge difference that deserved its own blog.  Did you catch it? Take a look at their new website, again, in the previous blog and see if you can tell what is missing:
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Do you notice anything "common"? 
Bingo!!!  All references to Common Core have been removed!   

You'll see plenty of the word, "CORE," because of TNCORE.  They can't really eliminate "TNCORE" because they have a whole different website devoted to it with its own logo and all.  Obviously, the TNCORE website hasn't gotten a makeover yet because Bill's picture is still at the top along with Kevin Huffman's name just like on the old website: 
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But notice that even this TNCORE website doesn't even mention the word, "common," on its main page. You have to play hide & seek with your mouse to find the actual words, "Common Core," anywhere at all on the subpages.  There is also no ketchup-mustard-onion-swirl Common Core logo: 
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Does that mean we aren't doing Common Core in Tennessee??? 
Oh, don't we wish!  Unfortunately, there are lots of people making lots of money on this Common Core gravy train, so it is still chugging along the tracks full-steam ahead whether parents and teachers like the direction the train is heading or not. 

Here is what the TNDOE has sneakily done, they have renamed the Common Core standards to: 

          "Tennessee State Standards"

Teachers told us that this renaming quietly happened over the past year. Teachers and Common Core coaches have been told to call it by the new name from now on and not to use the words, "Common Core" to avoid controversy or conflict.  The name is toxic.

Wait, can they do that???
Now, everyone knows that Tennessee didn't write these standards.  Even so, our state is branding them as their very own, which any English teacher can tell you is plagarism.  Some would even consider it "stealing," "theft," or "lying" to take someone else's property and put your name on something you didn't write.  Whatever you call it, it is undeniably sneaky and underhanded.  If the owners of the Common Core don't object to it, (and why would they? they just want the standards implemented no matter what it takes) Tennessee can do it.  

The TNDOE thinks that by not using the toxic name people won't be so upset.  Think again.  It is even more infuriating to know they are blatantly trying to trick us, isn't it?
 

Another excellent teacher quits

6/11/2014

 
Warning:  There is a lot of pent-up anger in the message below. This frustrated teacher asked us to wait to publish this until after she quit.


I just filled out a survey on the topic of the TEM Teacher Evaluation Model and The Tripod Survey. This was what I wrote and signed my name to at the end in the comments section. If you share this, please don't attach my name publicly until I have officially resigned at the end of May. I would like to keep my job until then.Thanks.

"Please, for the sake of public education, get Bill Gates and his foundation OUT of the public schools, elect some politicians who have a background in education and can pass laws that will actually help students, THROW AWAY COMMON CORE, and STOP TORTURING TEACHERS WHO ALREADY WORK 65 HOURS A WEEK AND DON'T NEED ANY MORE WORK OR BLAME PUT UPON THEM!  When are teachers going to be respected for all the hard work and love we put into our jobs? Why have teacher evaluations become such a HUGE burden on our poor administrators, who stay up nightly until MIDNIGHT trying to finish evaluation computer stuff! We need to be able to DO OUR JOBS and you are tying our hands!

If I just worked on the computer ALL DAY and did nothing but Powerschool, grading papers, watched PD360 videos, worked on eval self scores and professionalism feedback on My Learning Plan, I would STILL work over 8 hours a day. BUT I DON'T DO THAT. I NEVER EVEN SEE MY DESK UNTIL EVENING. I TEACH. I TEACH. I LOVE. I PUT OUT "FIRES, " I COLLABORATE, I MEET WITH PARENTS, I FACILITATE PROJECTS, AND THEN I TUTOR MY BABIES FOR FREE ON MY TIME ALSO. NOT EVEN FOR AN ECU, BUT ON MY WATCH.  I HELP MY STUDENTS LEARN BEYOND SCHOOL HOURS.

What do I get for this? between 3 and 5 more hours of work at the end of an already exhausting day. That's the thanks I get EVERY day for a job well done.

I am going back to college for a totally different profession. I am throwing away ALL my years of teaching and starting over. Will I miss my students? ABSOLUTELY. EVERY DAY. Will I miss the lack of respect nationwide? NO. The torture? NO. The Evaluations ? NO. 

I am not delirious enough to think what I choose for a career will not have it's up's and down's as well, BUT I DO KNOW THAT WHAT I AM CHOOSING TO GO BACK TO COLLEGE FOR WILL NOT REQUIRE ME TO WORK OVER HALF OF MY HOURS FOR FREE AND FROM HOME. I will even work 12 hours a day somewhere if I can leave it at work when I do go home and actually rest at home. I am willing to do almost ANYTHING else if I get paid for the hours I work.

Make teachers hourly and see how much overtime you have to pay. Good luck. Our children deserve better. Our teachers deserve better. Our nation deserves better.

By the way- I am not angry because I am not doing my job. I am respected in my school. I am known for being good with troubled kids. My students seem to like my class and my evaluations are pretty good. I am NOT a scorned teacher. I am an angry citizen.

Teachers are against everything that is being done in the educational system today. They just can't say so because they wouldn't have a job. Do you know what the new "buzz word" for teacher lay offs is? They are calling it "ABOLISHING" TEACHERS. To be abolished means to do away with, void. What a terrible way to lay off a teacher! I have already told my principals that I am not coming back next year, so watch them "abolish" me so they won't have to lay off any teachers who plan on staying. If they call it that when I resign, I am getting a lawyer. Anyway, I work in a good school with great administrators. But the entire system is flawed. It's high time someone started sounding off.

~ Sally, a frustrated teacher in Shelby County, TN


This breaks our hearts.  This is no way to treat someone who devoted her life to helping children.  This insanity must stop. 

Keeping great teachers is more important than getting rid of bad ones.

An elected School Board member speaks out:

6/3/2014

 
An elected school board member wrote this to the teachers in her district:

I met with the Alpine Education Association (AEA) last week.  I have appreciated their support and their collaboration with our district through some very difficult decisions.  I have been pleased to work with these very good people who serve in the AEA.

The biggest concern of the AEA was that teachers feel frustrated by my vocal, but honest, opposition to Common Core.  As a teacher, you have to implement Common Core.  The district has to implement Common Core.  (I did support funding for new textbooks for Common Core.) The AEA stated it has to put out fires when teachers and parents have concerns.  They wished I wouldn't say anything about my opposition to the Common Core Reform Package.  It increases their workload to have to address the questions of parents and fellow teachers who hear my concerns, I think.  It would be better for the district leadership (including those of us on the board) to not voice our concerns about Common Core when it just has to be done. Additionally, they added that if one of you were to be vocal about your opposition to Common Core, it wouldn't bode well for you, professionally, and those in the family of Alpine District would view you differently.

This is precisely my point.  As an employee, perhaps you can't speak out, if you find things amiss.  It's your job; you have to do it.  It's the same with my job.  Sometimes, you have to just put a smile on your face and do what needs to be done, whether you agree with it or not.  I completely understand that.  Do I wish it weren't the case? Yes.  But I acknowledge the reality of it.  Elected officials, however, are elected for a reason.  We can't be fired or lose our job for speaking out, except at the hands of the voters.  If anyone is going to stand up for teachers against a program that isn't good, it must be the elected officials.  And every new change, program, or implementation that comes along really should be debated, discussed, and vetted all the way along the line, especially at the local level.  

Let's take something we probably agree on: teacher evaluations being tied to testing.  This is wrong.  I've said so.  I will continue to say so.  It, too, is state law.  We have to do it.  But it's horribly wrong.  Placing so much of a teacher's evaluation and thus, his/her livelihood, on a single test is absolutely the worst use of a standardized test.   Like Common Core, should we just go along with it and be supportive?  I know you all will do the best you can, trying to not focus overly much on the test and still teach as professionals, but it it's got to weigh you down.  The direction we are going is that once all education and all educators are evaluated on a single test, funding will follow.  It's nice and simple, but still wrong.  I can't sit by and be supportive.  I have to find a way to scream from the rooftops that this can't work, and that it gives way too much authority to the test makers over teachers, over local boards, over HOW standards are taught in the classroom.

Let me give you an example.  Several years ago, my son had a phenomenal teacher.  He LOVED class, loved her lessons, enjoyed nearly every moment.  He learned a lot and enjoyed it.  She even expressed appreciation that he had shushed the rest of the class one time because he wanted to learn what she had to teach.  Do you think I cared what he got on the CRT's that year?  Nope.  I don't think I even looked at them.  He had a wonderful year with a wonderful teacher.  That was worth more to me (and to him) than any standardized test score.  And I am afraid that, despite her best efforts, that love and that thrill of teaching will be reduced to making sure she can keep her job by getting higher test scores.  (Note: She was/is his favorite.  But he's had many, many others who were just as wonderful, just as dedicated, and just as appreciated.)  I don't choose and evaluate my kids' teachers by their test scores.  

So, back to Common Core.  It is top-down, which violates the principle of local control.  A little bit of local control isn't local control.  And just to be clear, my opposition isn't just with the standards. The Common Core standards come in a nice little package along with tying test scores to teacher evaluations, courtesy of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Waiver.  The other two parts of that package are 1) a longitudinal database on students and teachers and 2) "improving" low-performing schools (determined by the test scores and "improved" by shutting them down and bringing in private enterprises, and redistributing successful teachers to these "failing" schools).  The entire package is flawed, and it's flawed on principle.  You, as a teacher, need to be able to have the freedom to connect with your students--the freedom to do what you know is best, regardless of where the student falls on the 'testing' rubric.  The Common Core Standards are just one tree in that forest of standardizing everything: tests, schools, teachers, curriculum.  Already, there are calls to use the copyright of the Common Core standards to 'certify' curriculum.  And, in the end, if your wonderful lesson plan doesn't deliver the results on the test (even if it delivers the results you, your students, and your students' parents want), it won't be around for very much longer.

You got into teaching because you love kids, and you wanted to be able to affect their lives for the better through education. You have natural talents and professional training on how to make that human-to-human connection that makes teachers irreplaceable. We need more of the individual attention you provide. Common Core, with its associated numbers-driven, top-down, accountability to the state, not parents, can only take education in the wrong direction. The Common Core standards, and the rest of the NCLB Waiver package, will reduce teachers to standards-implementers, test-preppers, and data points. I realize this is your job, and you have to make the best of whatever is presented to you.  But that is why we have school boards and a political process.  It is my job to fight against policies that interfere with the parent-child-teacher partnership. I am happy to do this job. I hope you will understand that my opposition to Common Core and its "package" is to support you as the professional you are. Our community must stand strong and eliminate all obstacles that stand in the way of you doing your job and realizing the highest aspirations that originally brought you into education. You may not be able to do it, but I should.

- Wendy Hart, School Board member in Alpine, Utah

(originally printed on her blog: http://www.wendy4asd.blogspot.com/2014/04/for-teachers-only.html)
 


"But if it is believed that these elementary schools will be better managed by the governor and council, the commissioners of the literary fund, or any other general authority of the government, than by the parents within each ward, it is a belief against all experience."

"What has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every government which has ever existed under the sun? The generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body, no matter whether of the autocrats of Russia or France, or of the aristocrats of a Venetian senate."

--Thomas Jefferson (February 2, 1816)
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