The Achievement School District of Tennessee, or ASD, was modeled after the Louisiana Recovery School District, or RSD.  The superintendent of the ASD is a friend of mine from my days as a TFAer in Houston, Chris Barbic.  The goal of the ASD is to take over the schools in the bottom 5% in terms of test scores in the state and within five years get the scores up so those same schools are in the top 25%.  The schools, as I originally understood it, would have the same zoned students after the were taken over by (they use the euphemism ‘matched with’) the usual suspects of TFA charter chains, like KIPP and Rocketship.  The first cohort of the ASD was 6 schools started in the 2012-2013 school year.  This grew to 17 schools in 2013-2014, and now 23 schools for 2014-2015.  I was skeptical of this plan from the beginning.  As I wrote to Chris in one of my open letters, still unanswered, I felt like this was a goal that can only be achieved by some sort of cheating or lying.  One cheat that is happening is that many of the charter schools did not take over existing schools but became new schools which phased in one grade at a time.  This makes it pretty hard to say that a school that never existed was originally in the bottom 5% of schools.

As reformers are all about accountability and data, the ASD, of course, issues yearly reports about the progress that it is making toward the goal of moving the schools in the bottom 5% to the top 25% in five years.  This year Tennessee has been very slow in releasing their state test scores.  In early July they first released data for the State.  On these, the average scores in the state were not very good.  On average, as I wrote about here, 3-8 math scores went up by a percent while 3-8 reading scores went down by a percent.  At the end of July they released the data for the individual districts.  In that release, we learned that the ASD scores increased more than the state averages.  I wrote here, about how that really wasn’t saying very much, particularly since the 4% the ASD reading scores had gone up by still meant that the 2013-2014 reading scores were lower than the 2011-2012 ASD reading scores.  Then, in August, they finally released the final part of their data, the ‘growth’ scores of the districts and the test scores and growth scores for the individual schools.

A year ago the ASD, despite the fact that their reading scores dropped by almost 5%, somehow scored the highest possible score, a 5 out of 5 on the Tennessee ‘growth’ metric.  This was, they said, a sign that things were moving in the right direction.  This year, however, despite the fact that at the end of July we learned that the ASD ‘grew’ better than the state did in general, the final report in mid-August revealed that the ASD didn’t get another 5 in ‘growth.’  For the 2013-2014 school year, they got the lowest possible growth score, a 1.

You’d think that this would damper their spirits, but as they’ve got to show that they’re still on track to reach the goal of moving the schools from the bottom 5% to the top 25%, they released a report highlighting some of their successes.  It turns out that some of the schools are doing quite well while others are bringing down the growth average.

They even produced this nifty scatter plot showing how some of the schools are well on their way to cracking the top 25%.

So, according to this graph, there are four schools that are really moving up the charts, and one of them, oh my! Frayser 9GA is way up there, having moved from the bottom 5%, apparently, to nearly the top 50%!  Most of of the other schools haven’t made much movement, however.  In the ASD report, there were some graphs showing how different schools ‘grew’ from last year to this year.

So there are schools getting it done, like Frayser 9GA, and other schools that are still failing, like, say, Westside Achievement Middle School, with its declining scores in both categories.

So I did what no Tennessee education reporters have the ingenuity to do, I did some research and analysis.  The first thing I noticed was the fine print at the bottom of the scatter plot showing the movement of some of the schools.

Notes:  1-yr success rates; 2014 percentile calculations based on 2013 data;  Carver and Frayser HS used for historical data for GRAD and F9GA, respectively.

Hmmmmm.  What does that mean?  So I investigated further.  What I learned is that Frayser 9GA isn’t, technically, a school for which it is possible to calculate the growth between 2013 and 2014.  Also, it is debatable, if it can be counted as a school at all.  Here’s why:

Westside Achievement Middle school, the one that had the dropping scores in the bar graphs above, serves students in grades 6-8.  They were one of the original 6 ASD schools in 2012-2013.  Rather than send their eighth graders to Frayser High School in 2013-2014, they decided to expand Westside Achievement Middle school to have a 9th grade in their building.  They enrolled 99 students and called the ‘school’ Frayser 9GA for ‘9th Grade Academy.’  2013-2014 was the first year that this school existed, which is why comparing their scores for their 99 9th graders to the scores of already existing Frayser high school is not a fair comparison.  This article from the local Memphis newspaper explains that 85% of the 8th grade class at Westside Achievement Achievement Middle School wanted to continue at that school for the new 9th grade program.

Now in the 2013-2014 school year, Westside Achievement Middle School dropped from a 5 on their ‘growth’ to the lowest possible 1.

But the ASD decided to call the 9th grader program at Westside Achievement Middle School, all 99 students there, its own ‘school’ rather than what it actually is, a grade in the school.  It is not playing by the rules to pick a grade out of a school, call it its own school and then plot it on a graph as if it was an actual school that was once in the bottom 5% of schools and that with the help of the ASD catapulted to the top 50%.  So the question is, how is it that this school is failing to grow their 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in 2013-2014, yet they are getting miraculous results with their 9th graders?  And what would the score for this school be if they counted the four grades as one school rather than pulling out the 9th grade class and calling that its own school? Arne Duncan was in Tennessee today and spent time with Chris Barbic and even took a selfie with him.  Tennessee and the ASD are favorites of Duncan to tout his success.

It is fortunate for Duncan that he will be out of office when the house of cards that is the ASD comes tumbling down, three years from now.  I’ve noticed that many reformers have been going into hiding lately:  Wendy Kopp stepped down from being CEO of TFA.  Michelle Rhee stepped down from being CEO of StudentsFirst.  Others will surely follow into the safety of their underground bunkers.  Duncan will leave office and will surely find a safe place to hide from all the questions as the reform movement continues to collapse.  What will happen to my old friend Chris Barbic when this all goes down?  He’s always been a decent guy.  I worry he might be the only one with enough principle to go down with the ship while the others cowardly abandon it.

A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CIVIL LAWSUIT HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST KEVIN HUFFMAN, CHRIS BARBIC, TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, TENNESSEE ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHARTER SCHOOL AUTHORIZERS AND YES PREPARATORY ACADEMY

Rodney O. Ursery, J.D. and Clara D. West, Ph.D. are the Plaintiffs Who Filed the Lawsuit In Pro Se

Memphis, TN (September 8, 2014) – Rodney O. Ursery and Clara D. West, two former applicants for a charter operator’s authorization for the 2014/2015 school year, have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Kevin Huffman, Commissioner of Tennessee Department of Education (“TDOE”); Chris Barbic, Superintendent of the Tennessee Achievement School District (“TASD”); as well as the TDOE and TASD; along with two other defendants: the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (“NACSA”) and YES Preparatory Academy (“YES Prep”).

Among the thirteen causes of action, the complaint alleges unfair business practices, violations of Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, civil conspiracy, and violations of constitutionally protected rights. The lawsuit seeks a court order prohibiting YES Prep, a charter school enterprise headquartered in Texas, from opening schools that it illegally obtained in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil action, which also requests a jury trial, was filed in the 30th Judicial District Chancery Court, Shelby County, Tennessee.

Ursery states, “For far too long, it has been recognized and stated in the court of public opinion that Huffman and Barbic have utterly abused the power of their positions when it comes to regulating the Tennessee's school system. Now, I’m confident that their reign of terror, which has been plagued with conspiracies among crooks and cronies, will finally be revealed in a court of law, that is, if justice prevails.” West added, “It's as if we have to fight Brown v. Topeka Board of Education again. Our proposal offered equity in education through student-centered learning using individualized learning plans and iPads, just like the countries that consistently outrank the U.S. in education. We were unfairly denied the opportunity to help educate the lowest-performing students, who the system has already left behind and identified as the future prison population. It's all about leveling the playing field.”

According to the complaint, the defendants deliberately designed and implemented discriminatory selection and approval practices, customs and procedures to deny Plaintiffs’ application. The lawsuit further alleges that during the time when TASD solicited Requests for Qualification to apply for a charter operator’s authorization for the 2014/2015 school year, Barbic, TASD and NACSA conspired to approve charter operator’s authorization(s) for the 2015/2016 school year, an opportunity, which was made available only to YES Prep. It is alleged that Barbic, founder and former Chief Executive Officer of YES Prep, illegally authorized YES Prep to seize nearly 6,000 elementary school students in Memphis, TN.

Moreover, the lawsuit alleges that NACSA, who “partnered with” TASD to provide support and management services for the application process, is not a “professional” organization. NACSA does not have any government-approved, professional standards of operations; nor state licensing or certification; and it is not subject to any government agency, review board or code of ethics to govern its acts. Finally, the lawsuit states that Huffman and TDOE enacted a regulation which granted Barbic and TASD carte blanche to deny due process to applicants who are denied charter operator’s authorizations as there is absolutely no redress, grievance or appeal process to review any of the defendants’ actions.

For more information, contact the plaintiffs at: ru4justice@facebook.com or 901.300.0162.

This lawsuit is brought by two individuals claiming $10 million in damages because they were denied charter operator authorization by the ASD. $10 million dollars!!!  Those damages are a clear-cut case for how profitable a charter operator authorization can be.

Interesting how a potential charter school is suing some big guns in TN over unfair business practices, isn't it?

We've heard for years how there is a severe case of the good ol' boys club, "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine," nepotism within the TN DOE between other self-serving high-dollar organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and SCORE.  

It is hard to ignore the evidence of that nepotism when you read how:

• TN pays more than any other state for Teach for America temporary teachers through a $6+million NO-BID contract signed by Kevin Huffman, who formerly had a cushy job at Teach For America.  
• Our public schools are strangled, teachers and administrators are cut, and then the students, buildings, and tax dollars are handed over on silver platters along with generous grant dollars and tax incentives to their buddies' charter chains (like YES Prep, where ASD Superintendent Chris Barbic has very close ties and has richly profited from).
• The ASD schools have worse results than the public schools they killed ever did, but the ASD schools aren't feeling the wrath of the TNDOE's micromanaging and bullying like the public schools.
• Charter schools are making some people very, very rich. 
• Charter schools get preferential treatment within districts and the state:
• charters are exempt and/or given waivers from TCAP score accountability (especially if they are friends and/or donors to politicians)
• charters are exempt from giving the expensive and time-consuming benchmark RTI2 assessment tests that public schools are now being forced to do by the TNDOE.

When we allow corporate greed to infect public education, it is to be expected that profiteers will attack each other over business practices. We hope that this lawsuit will shine a light on these shady practices.

Perhaps this isn't "dog eat dog" but more like a pack of dogs attacking public schools.  If the plaintiffs win, where will that $10 million come from?  Public school funding???

On August 14th, Governor Bill Haslam sent a “Welcome Back” letter to teachers across the state. In the letter, he thanked teachers for their hard work in helping Tennessee improve its student achievement scores. He said he appreciated what they did for Tennessee students every day.

Apparently, some teachers haven’t forgotten that this is the same Bill Haslam who promised to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in the nation in teacher pay in October of 2013 and included a teacher pay raise in his 2014 budget address … only to break that promise in April.

Some teachers sent responses directly back to Haslam. And some of those same teachers sent their responses to TN Ed Report under the condition we keep their names anonymous.  Here are some of the responses we received:

Teacher Response #1:

I appreciate your attempt to understand the inner workings of a classroom and appreciate your words of appreciation for those of us who chose to serve others through teaching. However, I am highly disappointed at the turn of events in which you announced that teachers would not receive pay raises. We already make much less than other TN State employees and much less than teachers of other states.

It is easy to make promises and to break them:
http://tnreport.com/2013/10/04/raising-teacher-pay-a-top-budget-concern-for-haslam-administration/   

I am personally insulted in your lack of support for the teaching profession. My colleagues and I work hard for the families we serve. A normal day for most of us is  7:45 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Though we are only paid to work 8:00 until 3:15, our jobs cannot be completed in those hours. Many times we take student work home with us and are constantly looking for ways to improve our teaching on our own time.

Teachers are generally told “no one teaches for the money”. TRUE, but teachers never expected to be put on the “budget cutting” chopping block each time raises are considered. We feel betrayed with popular campaign promises and rhetoric.

In closing, make no mistake that our hard work is not completed for you or any elected official. Our hard work is for the children we PROMISED to educate when we accepted our jobs. Your letter of appreciation proves that WE have not failed those who have put their trust
in us, including you.


Teacher Response #2

Please tell the PR firm that suggested you send these letters that we teachers are well educated and therefore insulted that they would believe a letter full of empty words could ever make up for what you and your administration have done and are doing to ensure the destruction of public education in Tennessee.

Teaching is more than a job to me. Teaching is my calling. I sincerely love all of my students and work tirelessly for them. I most often work six full days a week to ensure that they have exactly what they need to succeed. I spend hundreds sometimes more than a thousand dollars of my own limited income every year to make sure that their needs are met. I was always proud to be a teacher but, not so much these days. Mostly these days my heart aches for my children. I spend many hours crying for them. Your administration has stripped our classrooms of all joy. Teacher morale is low because we are working in hostile conditions.

Finally, please keep your empty words. This letter is too little, too late.


Teacher Response #3

I am in receipt of your letter of August 14, 2014.
 
I appreciate the welcome back to school. And it is nice to hear the words “thank you.”
 
In your letter, you note that Tennessee is the fastest improving state in the nation in terms of student achievement. You attribute this success directly to teachers.
 
I seem to remember that in October of 2013, you also promised to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in teacher pay — an acknowledgement of the hard work so many Tennessee teachers are doing every single day.
 
Your budget, proposed in early 2014, also indicated at least a nominal raise for teachers was forthcoming.
 
Then, in April, you abandoned that promise.  When the state revenue picture changed, the budget was balanced on the backs of teachers. Not only did your new budget take away promised raises for teachers, but it also reduced BEP funding coming to school districts. Now, teachers are being asked to do more with less.  And students suffer.
 
Your words ring hollow when your actions make it clear that teachers don’t matter. That our schools can wait just one more year for the resources students need to succeed.
 
As for your “thank you” for the work I do, I’d note that I can’t send it to the bank to pay my mortgage. A thank you isn’t going to fix my car when it needs repair. When the price of groceries goes up, I can’t simply use your thank you letter to cover the increase. And when my health insurance premium inevitably rises in January, your letter won’t put money back in my paycheck to cover the cost.
 
The raise you promised but failed to deliver would have helped with all of these things. But your letter does nothing but remind me that you say nice words and shortchange our schools.
 
In my classroom, I place a high value on integrity. That means doing what you say you’re going to do. On that scale, sir, you rate an F.


We received copies of other responses that mentioned the poor communication style of Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman and the loss of collective bargaining rights. While teachers may not have a viable alternative to Haslam on the ballot in November, those sending us copies of their responses made it clear they won’t be supporting Haslam.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow@TNEdReport

Public schools can be extremely political places, especially when combined with the weight of the legal system.  In fact, when combined, politics and the law can take an ideological turn that may even thwart the will of its own citizens. This can both be positive and negative, depending upon your view the particular issue.  Nonetheless, placing the responsibility of political decisions upon the representation of another person or group is indeed uncertain, and perhaps dangerous.  
 
This is a major reason we must pay close attention to our elections, and must ensure the people we trust hold elected offices. This is also why our US and Tennessee Constitution include numerous checks and balances. If a person is elected or appointed that did not represent the public, other officials could and are able to impede various actions.
 
Recently, our General Assembly has begun to identify that Tennessee is lacking some checks and balances. Apparently, Tennessee is the only state where the attorney general is appointed by the Supreme Court.   This is further complicated by the fact that the Supreme Court is appointed by the Governor. In forty-three states, the attorney general is elected, and the remaining six states have some combination of legislative, executive, and judicial input. Normally, this may have little bearing on public education, if any. However, Tennessee again is an anomaly.
 
Recently, Attorney General Robert Cooper released a statement upholding the actions of Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman, (also appointed by the Governor) about whether he had the legal authority to waive regulatory or statutory requirements related to federal and state student assessment and accountability.  Cooper cites TCA 49-1-201(d)(1), which states that the commissioner of education may waive some state laws that impede the department’s goals or missions if districts request a waiver. There were also specific prohibitions that were mentioned.
 
Many legislators, analysts, and citizens questioned the Attorney General’s ruling. Cooper uses the very language in the Federal “No Child Left Behind” law and calls them “terms of art” in order to reach the conclusion that the waiver by Huffman does not affect or involve evaluations at the State and Federal levels.  The use of the words “terms of art” by the Attorney General in his ruling was interesting, as was failure to mention that Tennessee has been issued a waiver of many of the No Child Left Behind requirements.  Tennessee is among 34 states that were granted exemptions from punitive measures of that law.
 
This is a subject that is expected to continue to be scrutinized and perhaps further debated.  If the Tennessee General Assembly feels the Cooper ruling is in error, as do many people that work within education law, and realize the contradiction by the Attorney General in his ruling, expect state legislators to recognize the necessity for tweaks to existing state law for clarification. 
 
Essentially, the AG Ruling and his legal opinion allowed appointed - not elected - officials the opportunity to bypass legislation - created by elected officials - if the commissioner deems it more efficient to do so. In this case, the cost for efficiency is public input, and legislative intent is muted. Little consideration was apparently given to the fact that the delay in receiving TCAP scores by districts impacted individual schools and district closing operations and interrupted the decision-making process they utilized in planning for the upcoming school year.  There is a danger that by silencing the public through the legal hammer at the disposal of the state and utilization of appointed officials becomes a much more progressive force than the will of parents, educators and even legislators in shaping public education policy in Tennessee. 
 
The remedy of course, is to change the method of selecting the Attorney General, and or the Commissioner of Education.  This of course will require much more debate and discussion, and perhaps legislative action.  We expect this matter will continue to be questioned among educators and policymakers.  Cooper’s ruling raised more questions than it answered. 
 
##

Kyle Mallory is a classroom teacher in Stewart County.  She was VFW Middle School Teacher of the Year.  
Samantha Bates is Director of Member Services for Professional Educators of Tennessee.   
 

In state after state, charter schools are proving that it is downright risky to turn public money over to deregulated corporations and unqualified individuals to run schools. The Detroit Free Press series on the scams, frauds, and corruption in many Michigan charters was an eye-opener for all those who are not part of the charter movement. The exposé of similar frauds in Florida by the League of Women Voters in Florida was enlightening to anyone other than free market ideologues. The same level of corruption–actually, even worse–exists in Ohio’s charter sector, where a small number of charter founders have become multi-millionaires, run low-performing schools, and are never held accountable.

One of the most colorful charter scandals occurred when a Cleveland charter operator was tried for funneling over $1million to his church and other businesses. The charter founder was a pastor, not an educator. His attorney said ““his client had good intentions when opening the school on East 55th Street but then got greedy when he saw easy opportunities to make money….”

The leader of California’s most celebrated charter school, with outstanding test scores, stepped down when an audit revealed that nearly $4 million had been diverted to his other businesses.

In Arizona, the Arizona Republic exposed charters that were family businesses, giving contracts to family members and board members.

In Chicago, the head of the city’s largest charter chain resigned after the media reported large contracts given to family members of school leaders and other conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds.

Last week, one of Connecticut’s most celebrated charter organizations was at the center of the latest scandal. Its CEO was revealed to have a criminal past and a falsified résumé. Two top executives immediately resigned, and legislators and journalists began to ask questions. No background checks? Accountability? Transparency?

Colin McEnroe wrote in the Hartford Courant’s blog that hustlers were cashing in on the charter school craze. Not just in Connecticut, but in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, California, Ohio, Arizona, on and on.

McEnroe wrote:

“The message is always the same: The essential concept behind the charter school movement is that, freed from the three Rs — restraints, rules and regulations — these schools could innovate and get the kinds of results that calcified, logy public schools could only dream about. And they do … sometimes.

“But handing out uncountable millions to operators who would be given a free hand was also like putting a big sign out by the highway that says “Welcome Charlatans, Grifters, Credential-Fakers, Cherry-Pickers, Stat-Jukers, Cult of Personality Freaks and People Who Have No Business Running a Dairy Queen, Much Less a School.” And they’ve all showed up. This is the Promised Land: lots of cash and a mission statement that implicitly rejects the notion of oversight…..

“What else goes with those big bubbling pots of money? A new layer of lobbyists and donation-bundlers. The Free Press documented the way a lawmaker who dared to make a peep of protest against charter schools getting whatever they want suddenly found himself in a race against a challenger heavily funded by the Great Lakes Education Project, the “powerhouse lobby” of the Michigan charter movement. Jon Lender of The Courant recently showed how one family of charter school advocates had crammed $90,000 into Connecticut Democratic Party coffers.”

If there were more investigations, more charter scandals would be disclosed.

When will public officials call a halt to the scams, conflicts of interest, self-dealing, nepotism, and corruption?

There is one defensible role for charter schools and that is to do what public schools can’t do. There is no reason to create a dual school system, with one free to choose its students and to cherry pick the best students, while the other must take all students. There is no reason to give charters to non-educators. There is no reason to allow charter operators to pocket taxpayer dollars for their own enrichment while refusing to be fully accountable for how public money is spent. Where public money goes, public accountability must follow.


- written by Diane Ravitch, originally posted at www.DianeRavitch.net

The above law was violated by a person appointed to a position of authority over our public schools, Commissioner Kevin Huffman.  The law is clear: he did not have the power to grant TCAP waivers to over 100 school districts.

Teachers are being unfairly held accountable for test scores on tests they are not allowed to see and whose cut scores are admittedly manipulated....  Students are being held accountable for grades on tests that their parents are not allowed to ever see.... but....

Who is holding Kevin Huffman accountable? Certainly not Governor Haslam who appointed him.

Legislators:  All of the laws you pass are worthless if they can be blatantly ignored without any penalty by those at the top.  Not a single legislator voted against this law in the House or Senate.  Beth Harwell, Ron Ramsey, & Bill Haslam all signed it.  Is it okay for the Commissioner of Education to break the laws you pass?

Superintendents & School Board members:  This is a case of "Do as I say, not as I do" by Commissioner Huffman.  Speak up for your districts and demand an end to all of this excessive testing and top-down control.  Talk to your legislators.  Your voices are important.  Do what you know is best for your students.

Media:  Publish facts, not what they want you to believe and print. 

 

Just when you think the madness can't get any more maddening, the TN Department of Education raises the bar: 

1) Children were forced to take TCAPs and End of Course exams soon after their communities were ravaged by storms and tornadoes. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that their scores are not going to truly reflect what these children are capable of doing. 

2) There were errors discovered on the 4th grade math TCAP test and in TCAPpractice booklets. Where there is smoke, there is fire.

3) Several parents have asked the TDOE to see copies of the TCAP tests their children took--all requests have been denied even though we have yet to find a law that prohibits us, as parents, from seeing this test. Transparency anyone? 

But wait....There's more!

4) Just yesterday, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) informed districts that they will not have the TCAP "quick scores" back in time for districts to include them in grade calculations on final report cards! The scores, by law, make up 15-25%of a child's final semester grades and teachers use the percentage of problems correct (i.e., quick scores) on the TCAP to determine the semester grades. 

We have obtained a copy of the letter the TDOE sent to the state's school district directors and, from what we can tell, the TDOE is supposedly conducting a statistical analysis (i.e., "post-equating") on the quick scores and that is why the scores will be delayed. (According to the letter, in the past they they conducted post-equating after the quick scores were released and that is why they were able to get the scores out earlier.) Even though the TDOE suggested that districts delay the release of final grades, some districts are applying for waivers from the TDOE, asking that their student's TCAP scores not be included in their grades. It remains to be seen if the TDOE will honor these requests. 

We have lots of questions for the TDOE:

• When did you decide to make this change?
• Why were districts told at the last minute about this change?
• What about the districts that don't get waivers? Are their teachers supposed to come back to work during summer vacation to complete final grades? 
• What about the districts that do get waivers? Kids all over the state stressed out, to the point of illness, over these tests. And all of a sudden, all of that stress and hard work will have been for naught!   How is this fair to our children? And what about the kids who needed those scores to increase their grades? How is this fair to them? (Don't get us wrong--we despise the requirement that TCAP scores be included in grades, but we despise the additional emotional trauma inflicted on our kids even more.)
• And what about the teachers whose job security is dependent upon these scores? How can we be assured that the scores are not purposefully being manipulated to reflect an agenda that includes undermining traditionally educated teachers (Teach for America, anyone?), closing neighborhood schools, and opening unaccountable, privately-run charter schools? (Transparency is not something the TN DOE is known for.) 
• And last, but not least, would you allow a group of independent, 3rd party statisticians, testing experts, and parents to be a part of the current "post-equating" process so we can be assured that you are not attempting to manipulate the very scores that may affect our children's grades and definitely will affect their teachers' evaluations? 

To the legislators reading this post: 
We appreciate all that you did to help protect our children, their teachers, and their schools this past legislative session. But, as you can tell, there is much more work to be done. Please keep this in mind during this campaign season and, if you are re-elected, during next year's legislative session. We are desperate for your help. We are fighting for our children the best we can, but we are battling a bureaucratic nightmare. Using test scores to judge teachers and our students is clearly wrought with errors at every turn. It's time to find a more effective, and much less emotionally traumatizing, manner of evaluation.  

Dear Gov. Haslam,

I am writing to let you know that my fourth-grader will not be taking the TCAP test. This is unfortunate for her school because she scores in the advanced range every time.
Auria is in fourth grade at Northfield elementary in Murfreesboro, TN. This is our fourth year at this school, and between her and her sister, I have fallen in love with numerous teachers there. Murfreesboro has the best school system in the state (according to Google), and I have been highly impressed with the people and their level of care for my children.

Third grade changed, though. My highly-intelligent, confident kid became a wreck - early in the year - over the pressure associated with the TCAP. I was confused, as I took the TCAP every year as a child and have nothing but fond memories of bubbling in the little circles. I started to notice the growing intensity leading up to the test, and I became a little disgusted. That was last year. This year it was worse. The teachers I have had the pleasure of working with are so wound up that I feel sorry for them. The teachers, the staff, the administration...everybody.

These are obviously brilliant and creative people, and this test has taken over like a life-sucking monster. Teaching isn't an exact science, just like parenting. Every child is different, and this terrible system is stifling all the joy and creativity that is required to really make an impact. 

Now, if I love this school and staff so much, and I know her test scores would attribute to an average boost ($$$), why would I pull her from this?  She wants to be a teacher when she grows up. These teachers are already being grossly underpaid for such an important role.
 "Pearson is America's largest corporate maker of standardized testing. It has a multiyear contract with our Department of Education: For creating and implementing the TCAP and the end-of-course tests for high schoolers, we pay more than $150 million.  (That's three times what it would have cost to give Tennessee teachers a 2 percent raise.)  The deepest cut of all? Teachers aren't able to preview the test. They are neither editor nor author of the single most influential test of the whole year. It's the educational equivalent of a slap in the face." 
- David Cook (Times Free Press)

Auria can already make better decisions than this.

My child's job is to learn. The teacher's job is to teach. But my role as her parent is more complicated. I also have to teach her when standing up for something is necessary. This system is stupid and unfair. She will be accepting a 0 as 15% of her grade for the year. But she will also be standing up for teachers and students all over the state. She will be taking steps toward bettering her future right now, and I think that's better than just a memory of all those bubbles.

Thank you for your time reviewing this matter,

Alicia Maynard
Murfreesboro, TN

The above letter has been shared on Facebook over 1,140 times in the past 48 hours.  Here are some of the many comments on it:

• Amen!
• As a teacher in metro, I love you!
• Wow! Seems I'm not alone about my TCAP feelings! Kuddos to this mom!!!
• The pressure for students, teachers, and parents is so unfair. It makes me so sad.
• This is so beautiful. It's a must read for all parents and students.
• Maybe more parents should jump on this bandwagon!!! I would love to shake her hand and meet her in person!
• Incredible parent and letter! Hope someone listens! Something to think about where we are heading for the future of education for the little ones. Lets put Common Sense back in Education and worry bout the little ones not which pocket is getting thicker!!!!
• How many letters like this will it take to change things?
• Simply the truth. I am forbidden by law from seeing, asking or being told what is on the test my kids take. Ever. We never see the old tests. We cannot challenge bad questions...and trust me, the practice tests have bad questions. Parents can also never see the tests. Just try and ask, even after it is given. I have yet to have a teacher's edition grammar book that did not have a wrong answer or horribly confusing practices. It happens, but now who is double checking? My kids will do well...they always do me proud in a pinch, but this is beyond ridiculous. Pearson controls education in Tennessee. Get over the outrage over the feds/Common Core (for now) and ask why in the Hell a private company gets to determine kids' grades and teachers' fates with ZERO oversight.
• May do this next year. Zac is flipped out about TCAP.
• This sums up my feelings on standardized testing word for word!!!!!!!
• I love how you just stand up for things that are unjust without ANY hesitation and I respect the heck out of that! TCAP tests and the like are the reasons why I did not complete my certification as a secondary educator. It's an unfair system that pigeon-holes children into measurable data. You, Alicia Maynard, are a beautiful soul and a wonderful mother. Thank you for standing up for teachers and for teaching your children to stand up for their generation of learners.
• I applaud this mother and think it would be awesome to boycott this stupid standardized testing

This issue is not going away.  This movement will to continue to grow in TN, as it has in other states as parents realize that their children are being needlessly and expensively over-tested.

Common Core and the inseparable requirements of the Race to the Top contract require even MORE testing, including benchmark tests and probably the PARCC (which is a much more difficult, time-consuming, and stressful test than TCAP is).


Legislators:  Parents need a law that gives us the legal option to protect our children by Opting-Out of standardized tests.  Other states have this law.  Tennessee needs it, too.  Parents should be able to decide what is best for our children.  Private school and home-school students don't have to take these tests, so why are our public school children forced to do them?

School Board members & Superintendents:  Some districts in TN (like Metro Nashville) allow parents to refuse standardized tests for their children without penalizing the child, teacher, or school.  Even though TN does not yet have an Opt-Out law, the state, at this time, allows districts to decide without penalty (See this document and see how the Metro Nashville School District handles parents who wish to refuse testing for their children).  Locally elected school boards have the authority to set policies regarding testing and the rights of parents to refuse these tests for their children.  Please, listen to the parents.  

Parents know what is best for their children.  We know better than the Pearson corporation, better than the government, and better than any standardized test ever created.  We trust our children's teachers to fairly assess our children's progress.  

Click HERE to read the secret report from the Governor's puppets
 
You'll clearly see:  The State Board of Education will get the incredible power to decide the Standards for our children.  Yes, the same State Board of Education that voted, through a telephone conference call with dogs barking in the background, to revoke the licenses of teachers over test scores.  The same State Board of Education that is APPOINTED and serves at the whim of the current administration.  Tennessee citizens did not elect this board.  This board does not answer to us.  In fact, they won't return our messages.  Two of them even unsubscribed from our emails.  They don't want to hear from parents.  They know who they serve and obey:  Governor Haslam.

As it seems right now, we are ALL being played right into the Governor's hands... parents, local school boards, Superintendents, legislators, and worst of all... our children.  
 
Legislators: when you go home tonight, exhausted after this Legislative session... will you be able to sleep soundly at night knowing you have sold out our children to corporate interests?