I attended a community meeting at Jere Baxter Middle School tonight to hear discussion of the East Nashville "Third Way" plan. Jere Baxter is located just off Dickerson Pike and only a few blocks away from the new Rocketship charter school (which is directly across the street from Jenna's Adult Toy Box, but that's an entirely different issue). 

Jere Baxter boasts a beautiful new building, but is severely underenrolled at only 53% capacity. Dr. Register said hundreds of students in the area are now attending new charter schools, which have oversaturated the East Nashville market. (See the correlation here?) 

Jere Baxter serves a population of 97.9% free and reduced lunch students. It has a mobility rate of 58% and a chronic absence rate of 18%. To no one's surprise, this school is struggling. This year, only 15.8% of its students were reading on grade level.

Dr. Register led off the discussion with Jere Baxter's dismal performance and said that no child should be subjected to a "failing" school. A parent responded with the question I had in mind: What actually makes Jere Baxter a "bad" school? Although Dr. Register didn't really answer this question, staff members complained about the lack of continuity - with constantly rotating students, teachers and principals. Teachers asked for greater supports. A parent noted that many students at the school are desperately seeking teachers' attention, and the school needs more staff. One teacher who had taught at both a charter and traditional schools pointed out that guidance counselors at traditional schools are too tied up with testing to actually offer counseling. (This is definitely the case at my child's school.) No one mentioned the elephant in the room - the impact of poverty and mobility on student performance.

The most disturbing part of the discussion for me, however, was the new focus onrecruiting students, rather than discussion of how to best address the huge challenges at the school. According to Dr. Register, the need to compete for students is just a reality now, and traditional schools need to step it up. He went on: Because charter schools are "out recruiting us" (despite the fact that our traditional schools provide more offerings than MNPS charter schools), we must become better recruiters at traditional schools. Other MNPS officials also spoke about the need to "sell" and market our schools and go door-to-door looking for students (like our charter schools). One teacher pointed out that charter schools often host huge BBQ dinners to recruit families and (only somewhat jokingly) asked for a budget for BBQ! 

This focus on recruitment and competition is all a direct result of the national, state, and local attacks on public education, created by those who view our schools as markets, our families as consumers, and our children as mass-produced commodities. 

Then, a voice of reason spoke up. A teacher said, "I went to school to be a teacher. Not a business person. Not a marketer. Not a recruiter." She asked: When can I do my job and teach? Where are my supports?

So after tonight's meeting, here are my questions: Is it really a good idea to require parents to compete for spots at coveted "choice" schools and ask teachers to become recruiters for the best test takers? Where is community in all this "choice," competition and winning? 

What has happened to the ideal that we will work together to build healthy communities and ensure that every neighbor is welcomed and accepted? We should make sure that children who have special needs, immigrant children who can't speak English, those with behavioral problems, and those who simply struggle in school are just as welcome as children who perform best in school, and that our struggling students will receive the extra support that they require. We should work together to support our schools in addressing these difficult issues and never give up on a single child.

In the end, this all seems to be a numbers game. Last year, Memphis closed down several of its "failing" schools, which increased Nashville's number of "failing" schools. We can now respond by shutting down our own "failing" schools (poof- no more "bad" schools!) and play the game of competing to win. Or we can take the brave step of not buying into all of this market-driven insanity. 

In short, we can choose to educate children, or we can sell out by "marketing" our "product" to "customers." 

We can have chaos, or we can have community.

What would happen if MNPS refused to play the "reform" numbers game anymore? What if we just decided to stand up to the bullies? Instead of merely shuffling students around to make our numbers look better, we, as a district, could decide that shuffling struggling students around is not the answer, even though it may momentarily make MNPS look better on the State Report Card. We could decide that we value each individual student and recognize that just moving "failing" students from school to school does nothing to address their academic problems. Instead of rubber-stamping military-style schools that get great scores, but don't offer healthy social/emotional learning opportunities, physical activity or enrichment, we could demand a focus on best practices. We could acknowledge that there are no miracle school cures, just like there are no miracle diet cures, and invest time, energy and long-term resources into our existing schools. We could create a budget that allows for extra support staff in the schools with the most challenging populations.
We could acknowledge that real school reform takes time. 

I believe these are the discussions we need to undertake. Who's with me?

This article excerpt is shared with permission of its author:

Run schools like a business? Flip that theory to see flaws
by Lisa Woods, originally posted on 7/20/2014 at News & Record

I would like to posit a scenario where “job performance and value” are based on the following objectives and conditions:

• You are meeting with 35 clients in a room designed to hold 20. 
• The air conditioning and/or heat may or may not be working, and your roof leaks in three places, one of which is the table where your customers are gathered.
• Of the 35, five do not speak English, and no interpreters are provided.
• Fifteen are there because they are forced by their “bosses” to be there but hate your product.
• Eight do not have the funds to purchase your product.
• Seven have no prior experience with your product and have no idea what it is or how to use it.
• Two are removed for fighting over a chair.
• Only two-thirds of your clients appear well-rested and well-fed.

You are expected to:

• Make your presentation in 40 minutes.
• Have up-to-date, professionally created information concerning your product.
• Keep complete paperwork and assessments of product understanding for each client and remediate where there is lack of understanding.
• Use at least three different methods of conveying your information: visual, auditory and hands-on.

The “criterion” for measuring your “worth and value” is that no less than 100 percent of your clients must buy and have the knowledge to assemble and use your product, both creatively and critically, and in conjunction with other products your company produces, of which you have working but limited knowledge.

Only half of the clients arrive with the necessary materials to be successful in their understanding of your product, and your presentation is disrupted at least five times during the 40 minutes.

You have an outdated product manual and one old computer, but no presentation equipment. Your company’s budget has been cut every year for the past 10 years, the latest by a third. Does this mean you only create two-thirds of a presentation? These cuts include your mandatory training and presentation materials (current ones available to you are outdated by five years).

You have no assistant, and you must do all the paperwork, research your knowledge deficiencies and produce professional-looking, updated materials during the 40 minutes allotted to you during the professional day. You cannot use your 30-minute lunch break. Half is spent monitoring other clients who are not your own.
Your company cannot afford to train you in areas of its product line where you may be deficient, yet you are expected to have this knowledge and incorporate it into your product presentation in a meaningful way.

You haven’t had a raise in eight years and your benefits have been purged, nor do you receive a commission for any product you sell. Do you purchase all the materials needed so your presentation is effective? Will you pay for the mandatory training necessary to do your job in a competent and professional manner?

School is not a business

Does this business model seem viable? Of course not.

Nor would it be appropriate for me to come to your job and evaluate you on a set of standards for which I have no experience or knowledge beyond use of your product (assuming from your presentation that I understand it). This is an absurd comparison, yet schools are continuously compared to a business model, which, when reversed, would be considered stupid by those in “business,” for there would be little if any profit, and the expectations of 100 percent success are delusional at best.

Think about what is provided for you to succeed at your job and imagine how you could meet your goals with the conditions described above.

Is “100 percent high quality” an adequate and realistic assumption for the quality of your workforce? Does your company have any poor employees? If an employee shows promise but needs help, is it provided, or is she fired immediately? Are the same criteria used at all levels of employment for all people? Must your employer have a reason to terminate an employee or can it fire someone it doesn’t like?

There are so many blanket statements made implying that most teachers are incompetent and only want more money. This is offensive.

Reality check: Most teachers do so for their love of learning and children and to make our community and beyond a better place. None would ever delude herself into thinking there is a lot of money in this career. For most, it is a vocation, not a job.

Bad teachers don’t stay

Because our state provides no right to collective bargaining, tenure is job protection. In my 30-plus years as an educator, I have rarely seen ineffective teachers remain long on the job. Are there some? Sure, but basic statistics will tell that a 10,000-employee company (Guilford County Schools) will have a statistical spread where “average” and “high average” is the largest chunk, and hopefully the smallest percentage is the “least effective.”

Does it bother me when I know there are less-effective teachers making the same pay I do? Sure, but complaining about it won’t make my compensation commensurate with my value and work product. Look at the current teacher assessment instrument. While it needs improvement, I can’t imagine that someone who is incompetent and showing no improvement would last long.

Tenure is not granted willy-nilly at the “magic” four years. Nor does it guarantee a job.

If a teacher’s evaluations are not up to a specific standard, the teacher is put on probation. And if no improvement is made, goodbye! And, with the continuous cuts and diversion of funds through vouchers to parochial schools, who knows how many public school teaching jobs will be left?

Tenure does not guarantee quality teachers, but applying the business model to schools is as absurd as applying the “school reality” to business. Until a better and fairer assessment and compensation structure is created, those “in the trenches” are actually consulted, and the reality of our working environment is considered and remedied, the symbolic little gesture of tenure will be an important one to insure that excellent teachers remain in North Carolina.

Lisa Woods, a master teacher at Weaver Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts, has taught in the Greensboro and Guilford County school systems since 1989. She holds an MFA and National Board certification and has completed all coursework for a master’s in education. She was on the national faculty for the National Paideia Center in Chapel Hill and has taught studio art from grade school to the college/graduate level.

 Click HERE to read the story of the blueberries
which will radically change your perception about students

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

from a TN teacher:

Some TVAAS information I feel compelled to share follows. But first, repeat after me: "I love my students, I love teaching, and I'm good at it." We have to keep focused on the important things during these crazy times in education!

Last summer I did quite a bit of research about TVAAS, & here's what I learned:

I teach 4th & 5th pull-out ESL, so I share Reading instructional time when TVAAS matching rolls around in the Spring. Students are pulled out of their regular classes to attend ESL for about an hour a day. Since my students are pulled out at various times, the percentage of instructional time I claim for each student varies. For example, if a student attends one hour of daily Reading time in his/her classroom and one hour Reading time with me, the classroom teacher and I split instructional percentage & we each claim 50%.

In order for a teacher to have an individual TVAAS score (I'm talking about 4th & 5th grade now) the teacher must have the equivalent of 6 full-time students in the subject they teach in the same grade for a minimum of 150 instructional days. So if I have 20 4th graders and I claim 50% of their Reading instructional time I multiply 20 students times 50% which equals 10 students. I met the minimum of 6 students in the same grade, same subject, so now I have an individual TVAAS score. But remember, only if I claim at least 150 instructional days. I found this out because I claimed this wrong when I was on maternity leave, which is what led me to my research.

Here's where it gets interesting: If you have a student who performs significantly better than the state predicted, that student could be considered a "statistical outlier" & that student's score could be removed. I have had this happen more than once. I spoke to someone in testing who confirmed this. So basically, if a student does much better than expected, the state thinks something fishy was going on. In theory, students who perform significantly lower than expected could have their scores tossed out as well, although ironically, I've never seen this happen on my report. If you teach 120 students, tossing out a couple of scores probably won't make a big impact, but if you only have 20 students or less, it could definitely impact your growth score.

And the most interesting part of all...the state can and will throw out a score from the previous school year. So if Johnny does well in my class and terrible next year, Johnny's score could be thrown out from my previous year's score. And no one will tell you it's been thrown out.

Print your reports more than once a semester, and pay attention to the list of students whose scores were included.

And remember, you love your students, you love teaching, and you're good at it!


Tennessee parents do not want our children's teachers evaluated based on our children's test scores.  This system is unfair to both the teacher and the student.  

Tennessee parents demand testing transparency.

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 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)

STOP bullying teachers!

and while we're at it, we demand that politicians:

STOP giving away our public schools!!!
 
We elected you to PROTECT and STRENGTHEN our communities, 
not weaken give them away to private interests to profit from.

Never before have parents become so politically involved.  We've been busy raising our families without any inclination to become involved in politics.  However, Common Core, excessive testing, school takeovers, the bullying of teachers, and greedy mismanagement by our elected officials has turned ordinary parents into political activists.  Don't be surprised by what happens during future elections when lifelong legislators find themselves out of jobs.  Parents know exactly which buttons to push in the ballot boxes: the names of servant leaders who will strengthen our world for future generations.

While I agree that standards are a good thing, I cannot support these standards that were developed in secret, and without a single expert in the area of Early Childhood Development. As a result my own young children are being submitted to participate in a "rigorous" curriculum that is DEVELOPMENTALLY INAPPROPRIATE and being forced to sit for hours at a time and take computerized assessments. Kindergarten and Elementary schools should be fun places that spark creativity and love of learning… this has not been our experience. My kids attend MNPS and they are miserable!
- A mother in Nashville, TN

CCSS is not what fits Tennessee! It is experimental and unsound, especially in K-2. I am one of Tennessee's 2 National Teachers Hall of Fame inductees. I vote NO!
- a teacher in Murfreesboro, TN

I am a teacher. I am very familiar with Common Core and its deficiencies. It is the worst idea in education in history. It is nothing but a political football and a cash cow for testing and textbook companies.
- A teacher in Shelbyville, TN

As an educator and a parent of school-age children, I am opposed to so much corporate testing. My children deserve better: less testing, teachers who can spend time teaching valuable skills and concepts rather than teaching to the test, and an environment that values the love of learning over data. I certainly hope that my students and my own children survive this "educational" scam. It is so disheartening to see the looks of frustration and disappointment on my students' faces because they continue to subjected to more and more meaningless tests. I hope that by the time my own children are in high school, that this madness will be a thing of the past.
- A Mother & Teacher in Memphis, TN

I am opposed to Common Core and do not want my children exposed to it nor do I want them to participate in it.
- A mother in Bartlett, TN

I am a licensed teacher and administrator. Common Core is causing teachers to have to get away from teaching and making them have to teach to the test.
- a teacher & administrator in Murfreesboro, TN

Children do not learn from being tested, they learn from being taught. Teachers do not have the time to teach what children need to know because they have to teach to the test.
- A teacher in Fayetteville, TN

My children are NOT learning with these new "higher standards". Instead they are being untaught the simple steps they've built upon since starting school which enabled them to learn and grow throughout their educational career. In short, Common Core is only working against our kids, effectively dumbing them down.
- A Mom from Roan Mountain, TN

This is vital to me as a teacher. I am tired of using valuable class time to teach "to the test," and to teach how to take a test. My students want to learn real material--not how to take tests. They are burned out from the constant testing & assessing, as are we. Literally, there has not been a single day in February or during the month of March (except for spring break) when our students have not been testing or assessing for something. Methinks Pearson and perhaps some state government folks are making a fat bundle of money from this--at the mental and educational expense of our children. Stop this now!! Let our students really learn! Let us teach!
- A teacher in Memphis, TN

After reading the course and what it teaches in history it scares me that they are trying to teach this craziness to my kids. It's another government failure.
- A father in Mount Juliet, TN

Dollars should be used to make SMALLER class sizes, Pre-K for every child (it proven unlike common core), libraries fully stocked, Vocational Training (not all students are headed to corporate america) not putting it into the pockets of wealthy corporations who don't care about the students.
- A teacher in Knoxville, TN

I have 4 grandchildren in school and I disagree with the text books used for Common Core.
- a Grandmother in Lebanon, TN

I would like to protect my child's personal information as well as let our individual state and school district decide what's best for our curriculum. A "one size fits all" approach never works, especially when children are involved.
- A Mother in Germantown, TN

I am a mother of 3 and a public school employee. Common Core is a violation of the 10th Amendment and several federal laws. It is a curriculum of empty skill sets written by non educators and used to make money for corporations. My children deserve better. Their education is NOT FOR SALE!
- a mother in Hendersonville, TN

The Federal Government and for profit revisionist history companies are killing education in the USA. It should be up to the individual States as to the core standards that are applied. Also, I completely reject the data mining that is attached to Common Core. Furthermore, testing has become the only thing teachers have time for. They no longer teach for academic excellence, they teach for the test. This will continue to stifle creativity and dumb down our nation. Students are not robots, they are humans. Hence they need to be treated as humans with dignity and respect. 
- Collierville, TN

First, Common Core was not state-led, it was only state implemented. It was done in secret, without research-based evidence of improved outcomes, and to be frank - I remember no out-cry that our kids were not learning! I believe this has been in the making for decades, comes from the United Nations to bring the US into the global economy, and in order to do this, a non-existent crisis was manufactured.
My children's teachers cannot speak out, so I will. They believe it is a watered-down set of standards with no research or teacher input, too much instruction time used for teachers to give formative tests on Mondays and summative tests on Fridays, and the H.S. EOC raw test scores (published by Pearson) "are hugely inflated and do not match the scores given on report cards" - done in an effort to pass students who otherwise failed the test to make it "appear" that Common Core is wonderful. I pray parents in TN wake up to the real Agenda!
- A Mother in Old Hickory, TN

I'm a teacher who sees the constant testing in our schools. We are testing so much students are not getting enough instruction time. The CC standards are not helping. A student can not teach themselves after only 5 minutes of teacher instruction time. These tests are also asking personal questions that are no one's business but the family's.
- A teacher in Memphis, TN

I teach; I see the children losing their love for learning. EVERYTHING they do is for the purpose of data. Learning has lost it's lure. When I actually get to do something with my children that is a little off kilter from common core, they LOVE it and in turn, they LEARN from it. We are raising a whole generation of test takers so they can all go to college. NOT ALL STUDENTS SHOULD GO TO COLLEGE!
- a teacher in Knoxville, TN

I disagree with the lack of quality instruction, spelling, grammar, science. I think it's ridiculous to label a teacher as "failing" because last years' bright kids scored a 98 percentile and this years equally bright kids score a 97 percent. I also wish the social ethics issues were left for parents to teach at home. My child has learned very little this year. I'm moving to private school as fast as I can. The data mining and cameras in the classroom and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funding of pushing this agenda is sickening. We need to take control of our educational system in TN!!
- A father in Gray, TN

The 1% created this financial crisis with their greed and mismanagement, flogging schoolchildren is not the way out of it.
- Sewannee, TN

I work for Head Start and I am seeing kids going to Kindergarten who are doing great developmentally according to the Head Start standard but still failing. I see parents who cannot help their kids because they have no idea how to do the work the way it has to be done. I see kids who can get the right answer in the way their parents showed them or kids who can just think for themselves but getting it wrong because it was not done the "right way." There are also kids who cannot get the right answer even thought they are doing it the way they are taught, but still getting more credit than those who actually get the right answer. I see teachers who don't want to be teachers anymore.
- Johnson City, TN
 

These are just a handful of comments Tennessee Parents & Teachers wrote as to why they are against Common Core.  You can read them, and hundreds more just like them, by clicking HERE.
 

I had a kindergarten student who made it to school on average twice a week. We had a meeting with the parent and she explained that she was too close to the school for bus transportation and that she shared a car with her boyfriend and didn't always have access to it. She also worked nights and sometimes didn't get home in time to walk her four children to school. She was not comfortable allowing them to cross a busy four lane road without a crossing guard. Before I could think, I offered to pick the children up for school and bring them home each day. My principal commended my offer, but also warned this was a personal liability and that I was risking being late to work. She also explained she would not be able to excuse any late arrivals I may have. I told her I had faith in my decision and that I didn't forsee any issues. I explained we could cross that bridge if we even arrived at it. I was never late and thoroughly enjoyed my time with a most gracious family.
- A teacher in Shelby County, TN

This past fall a former student called me and told me that her grandmother had died. She wanted my help because her mother wanted to read a poem at her grandmother's service. At the end of the day I met with her and gave her a poem for her mother to read. I got a hug in exchange.  
- A teacher in Norris, TN

My strength as a teacher has always been developing relationships with my students. The most important thing I think I have ever done in my teaching career happened when a female student confided in me with a dark secret that she had been enduring for years. Her mom and stepdad had been molesting her for a number of years. She had never told anyone. I was shocked. I immediately talked to the right people to get her help. The parents went to prison. She went through many tough years due to all she had been through. She ran away several times. Whatever happened, we remained in touch. The bond we developed never ended. She is now in her early twenties in a serious relationship with soon to be stepchildren. She will be starting college soon. She still calls me and send me pictures of her and her family. She means so much to me. What we experienced together changed so much about me and how I view the world. I now am always looking for these kids and sadly, have found quite a few more in similar situations.
- A teacher in Tipton County, TN

A few years ago two former students invited me to go to the midnight showing of the opening of a Harry Potter movie. I taught them in 5th grade and they were college sophomores. Their invitation said, "Reading is the reason that we're still such good friends, and you reading Harry Potter to us is the reason that we both still love to read." 
- A teacher in Knox County

My Principal received an email from a parent saying how much they appreciated me for teaching their daughter the "love" of reading
- A TN teacher, district unknown

My daughter's teacher called my husband to let him know that our daughter broke down crying after not being able to answer questions on the constructed response assessment (a Common Core test). She, along with other teachers & guidance counselors, loved on our daughter and let her know her value isn't measured by ridiculous tests.
- A parent in Franklin County, TN

I have a group of 6-10 boys who don't like to eat in the cafeteria. They come to my room. No duty-free lunch for me, but I like these kids and appreciate that they don't like the crowd-scene in the cafeteria. I provide low-key counseling.
- A Norris, TN teacher
 
I teach all seniors- this student graduated last year- I mentored her the entire Spring semester when she was was cutting herself to deal with stress, anger, and emotional pain. She was also considering suicide. I was on call 24 hr for her to text me if she was in danger of cutting or going over the edge. We are still very close--I took her to get her first tattoo after graduation before she went to college in the fall. She also brought her boyfriend by my house- for me to meet- and approve of- this year. -she recently sent me this message. "S" is her boyfriend. "I'm really glad we're friends. S*** told me to thank you. He's 100% sure you saved my life." 
- A selfless TN teacher in Winchester, TN

I have a girl in one class whose mother died a couple of years' ago. She has never been clear about how her mother died. She says that she doesn't know. This girl is always at my side. Always wants to sit at the front of the class. Always wants lots of attention from me. I found her to be exhausting at first, but now I know why she is so needy. I give her lots of attention.  
- a teacher from Metro Nashville, TN
 
The best compliment I ever got......a parent told me that her daughter had said to her, "Mom, if I ever needed anything, I know I could go to Mrs. Hopson and she would help me out." 
- Teacher of the Year for 2013-14 in Knox County, TN
 
I read Darren Shan's series of Cirque du Freak books to my students. They liked them so much the librarian had to order more of them, and they asked for the books for presents. We even met one Saturday to watch the movie together
-teacher from Knoxville, TN

7 years ago the house of a student of mine burnt to the ground. She and her mother were both very large plus-sizes, so I guessed that most clothing donated to the family by the general public would not fit them. I am a plus size, so I immediately went home and cleaned out my closets and drawers and filled three extra large plastic bags with clothes and shoes and accessories. When the girl returned to school in a couple of days, I told her discretely during class that I had some donated clothes for to take home. Her mom met me in the pick up line after school to load the three sacks of clothes into her car, and she and her daughter were so appreciative of the bright, colorful and stylish plus-size clothes. For the rest of the semester, it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside to see the girl wearing some of my donations. She told me that her mother had chosen more of the clothes because the style was more for women than for teens, but she was thankful for all that i had given them since they had lost everything.
- A teacher in Murfreesboro, TN

I worked w/3 other amazing 6th grade teachers. We had a handful of kids we knew were pretty much on their own once they went home. Weekends were a terribly long time to these kids. We made sure that each one of them went home each Friday w/enough food to last them (and their siblings) the weekend. When winter came- they had coats, hats, gloves and anything else they needed. 
- A Teacher in Washington County, TN

I have volunteered my time to tutor my low kids in reading and math for the past 2 years... with NO PAY involved
- A selfless TN teacher
 
It is impossible to put a numerical rating on the value of teachers. 

Have you ever met a rich teacher???  We haven't.  They aren't in the teaching profession to get rich, they are in it to make a difference in children's lives.  Teachers are down-to-earth, hard-working, servant-leaders.  They deserve respect and admiration.

***Legislators: please vote YES for the Teacher Respect Act (HB 2263 / SB 2047) which prohibits the use of test scores for teacher license decisions.  Don't let the State bully teachers any more.