A letter from a 12 year old

Recently Sandra's been focusing on a couple children being forced to take standardized tests under the NCLB law and state regulations designed to enforce the law. The two children have complicated medical issues and were forced to take the tests, by the bureaucracy, in total disregard of medical opinion.

I have my own (legal) ideas about how to deal bureaucrats who'd intentionally harm a child to enforce poorly thought out regulation. I also have an opinion of NCLB and the proposed Obama/Gates/Bush Education Reform insanity...;best left for another time..

Getting back to where I belong..

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Meet  Anthony Herrea, the 12 year old at the center of one South Carolina family's objection to mandated standardized.  He wrote this, I suspect he had some help with the typing.  He wanted to tell people what's going on, and thank everyone for the support he and his family have been receiving from Sandra and others.  

First of all I thank you for all you have done for me. The PASS test was horrible. They forced me to do the test and my blood went to 344. I never ate anything either so it was not my fault. I'm so grateful you are helping me out. I really am happy that something is being done. I have been hit by kids, made fun of, and embarrassed. My diabetes bag was called a purse, and once a kid took off his shoe and threw it at my head. Before I was taking a medicine that made me sleepy, so what happened? My teacher jerked me up by my arm and I had to stand in a corner, she then gave a kid that hates me a squirt gun. If I fell asleep I would be shot with it. I cried myself to sleep standing up. All my school life has been a living nightmare that was made for me. My mom put me in SCVCS so I'd be safe. I wasn't even safe there. This test is wrong for everyone not even LIKE me! No one should take this test! Why do they so called "need you to take it"? What is this for? Nothing! Zero! Again, thank you so much! Thank you God for everyone who is supporting me. Thank you again.

Anthony Herrera

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In defense of the other kids-- that's what kids do, right or wrong it's instinctive for them to pick on another kid they perceive to be different..It's the job of parents, teachers, police officers or any other reasonably responsible adult who happens to be nearby to intervene.

 WTF did this teacher do? She handed another kid a squirt gun and told him to use it on a child that already has difficulty coping.  What kind of sense does that make?   Add that teacher to the list of bureaucrats I mentioned before.  A teacher is at least supposed to have enough common sense and good judgement not to single out a child for special treatment..  It sounds like this one singled out one to be disciplined and another to administer the punishment...


The system that forces children like Anthony to be tested is No Child Left Behind..  Nice title, sounds harmless, but it's not... Each state had to create mandatory tests and testing procedures for all students, then the states sent the law to the local level to be applied..  Each level of government added something to the law..  By the time it left Washington, no one cared that the law would become almost universally hated, by the time it got to Anthony, no one cared what it might do to a child's health..  Teachers no longer teach the subject, or to students interests and capabilities, they teach to the "TEST"  It's gotten to the point school calender years are defined by the "TEST".


That's bullshit, 


Tell you Representative in DC not to vote against reaffirming NCLB and bury it once and for all..  Tell them to put Obama's Educational Reform Proposals someplace where "the Sun don't Shine"



Constitutionally and Traditionally education is a local matter.  Tell your legislature to inform Washington they can shove their DC Bribe money and the crap that comes attached to it.. Next time your Governor, State Senator, or State House Representative tells you about how much money they got from DC for ___________ (fill in the blank). Ask what they sold DC in exchange for it.  As Rich Swier a Florida Blogger put it recently about the Florida Legislature " They sold our children's souls for 63 dollars apiece."


On a local level, odds are you can get the local School Board Member's email addresses in a matter of minutes. 

If you're a blogger, you know what to do; Anthony's Mom needs the help. 

For more information, you'll find it here and here. 


.

Jonathan Alter, an Obama lapdog on education

Unbelievable

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-11/obama-shows-spunk-pushing-brave-education-plan-jonathan-alter.html?wpisrc=nl_wonk

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I woke up to that message this morning.

Jonathon's Alters name in the link made me wonder if 0400 am was too late or too early for a drink,,,while I was considering that. I noticed the link went to Bloomberg.. I'd have given the editors there credit for more sense.  Bloomberg has a decent reputation, and as far as know isn't hurting for good writers with solid backgrounds.  Why in the hell are they publishing a writer who was a senior editor at Newsweek, and helped drive the weekly from one of the most respected widely and read publications in the country, to a company the owners literally gave away to an aging billionaire a year ago.

I passed on the drink, fixed coffee and read..

Sadly his appearance in Bloomberg wasn't the only thing unbelievable.  he wrote on a subject he knows virtually nothing about.  In fact the only thing he knows is if Obama's for something, he's for it too.  He's as loyal to Obama as Joseph Goebbel's was to Hitler, he has about as much respect for America's Constitution as Goebbels did.  He makes that clear

Republican lawmakers complain that the White House waivers run roughshod over the legislative branch -- and they’re right. But gridlock demands more robust use of presidential authority and, at least in this case, we’re getting it. Unless Duncan’s action is challenged and reversed on constitutional grounds, No Child Left Behind will be left behind for good.

He knows it's a direct violation of  Article I Section 1 of the Constitution but his attitude is do it anyway and make the American people take it to court.. Then he made a statement comparing Obama's shrewdness to that of "Tricky" Dick Nixon, (I added the Tricky).  Alter seems have forgotten what Nixon's shrewdness,  contempt of the Constitution, Congress and the American people got him.  The jackass goes on to say Republicans broadly support Obama, but they're politically committed to opposing him at every opportunity.  Alter seem to have forgotten there are over 80 new Congressman... elected because the American People oppose Obama's policies . 


To make a lie plausible there has to be some truth in it.. Jonathan Alter knows this and he correctly manages to point out a number of the flaws and failures of the widely hated No Child Left Behind law.  Educators, those not on the payroll of the Administration or Billionaires who stand to make billions more off Obama's plan have referred to the scheme as No Child Left Behind on steroids.. while Obama publically talks about the flaws of standardized testing in NCLB, his  RTTT agenda requires a lot more testing with the Federal Government keeping personally identifiable records of the progress of each child.. So much for the 4th Amendment/   


For the next several paragraphs he rehashed the talking point;s Secretary of Education Duncan made made last Monday right after Obama tried to reassure Americans that having our credit rating down graded was a mistake on SP's part and had nothing to do with is spending money we don't have..  After Obama and Duncan were finished speaking the Dow dropped another 400 points,  In all fairness I think that had more to do with Obama.


Common Core Standards- a plan to indirectly nationalize school curriculum's. Common Core nationalizes the tests kids will be required to to take that grade not only them, but determine whether or not their teachers earn more than a minimum living wage.   After telling is what a wonderful idea Common Core, and by logical extension  nationalization is, Alter praises the states "Leading the pack"  

"..................... Colorado, Indiana and Florida are leading the pack in developing the sophisticated accountability standards necessary for better performance........

We won’t know until September exactly what Duncan will demand of states in exchange for granting them waivers, but the price is likely to resemble the requirements imposed by Race to the Top, the competition launched by the Department of Education in 2009 that has inspired a flowering of reform across the country"

Is it my imagination or do we have a repeat of Pelosi's infamous you have to pass the law to find out what's in it?  We didn't pass it, we got it shoved down out throats and we're trying our damnedest to  spit the F'ng thing out.  Clearly Obama and Duncan. with Alter wagging his tail err keyboard behind , think they can make the suckers fall for the same bull manure over and over..

As for leading the pack,  I can't speak for Colorado or Indiana but a few weeks ago Dr Rich Swier of Sarasota Florida posted this blog about Florida's Passage of Obama's scheme... Swier is a retired US Army Lt Colonel with a doctorate in education,  he says it better than I can:

Florida Sells the Souls of Its Public School Students for $63 Each

By: Dr. Richard Swier ( Scribe ) on Jul 16, 2011 | 0 Comments

Have you heard something about a national education initiative titled: Race to the Top (RTTT)? Well this initiative was created from whole cloth by President Obama’s Secretary of Education Arne...

READ MORE >>

Jonathon Alter finishes with a paragraph that once again show his arrogance, Obama worship and contempt for our Constitution, our Congress and the American People...

Duncan will need to use the power of the executive branch to enforce both the requirements of Race to the Top and whatever broad reforms he demands in exchange for state waivers. If that requires withholding federal funds from recalcitrant states -- good. If it means overriding a dilatory and dysfunctional Congress -- even better. 

 In a strange way Alter's final comment offers a bit of hope..  there is very little doubt what Duncan's demands will be-- Regulatory compliance without any legislative authority to back it up, a routine tactic in Castro's Cuba, not long ago it was common place in Qaddafi's Libya.  As long as there hasn't been to much public outcry the Senate is content to let Obama do what he wants,, there is a limit to how far they can let him go without risking the wrath of the American People

Over riding Congress by Executive order is treason, that's not a word to be used lightly.  It was seen as a possibility by the men who wrote the Constitution.  It should be enough to give the US Senate a badly needed and well deserved kick in the ass. 

Bloomberg wisely makes it clear the views expressed in Alter's piece are his own-- not the views of Bloomberg

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Who is smarter than an education bureaucrat? The taxpayer paying for the bureaucrat!!

Posted For STLGretchen
Missouri Education Watchdog




State and national educational policymakers once again illustrate how out of touch they are with taxpayers, parents, teachers and administrators when it comes to crafting more onerous mandates. Instead of education reform, the plans from DESE and the Department of Education will add to the bureaucratic nightmare of public education, creating more harm than true reform.

From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

An attempt to recalibrate how school districts are rated by the state has triggered a unified uproar among educators and administrators throughout Missouri.

Groups representing teachers, principals and superintendents say they're concerned about a proposal that could double the number of standardized tests issued in public schools, including 10 more exams at the high school level in such courses as chemistry and physics. They don't like a recommendation to report the percentage of each high school's graduates who earn college degrees within three or six years, particularly if it means school administrators have to do the tracking.

While they say they agree with (Commissioner) Nicastro's goal, they oppose more testing and more tracking. State exams in chemistry and physics, they argue, would push schools to require students to take these courses, when there aren't enough science teachers to educate them. The groups also question who would pay for the additional tests, who would be responsible for tracking high school graduates through college, and whether expecting all students to take chemistry and physics exams is the same as the state dictating that every student take higher level science.

The increased tracking of students at the district levels is time-consuming and costly. At a time when Missouri (and other states) are having education budget cuts, how can these goals be accomplished? It's not only a concern at the state level, but national level as well. Arne Duncan is under increased scrutiny for the mandates he wants for education:

Frustrated by what he called a "slow motion train wreck" for U.S. schools, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said he will give schools relief from federal mandates under the No Child Left Behind law if Congress drags its feet on the law's long-awaited overhaul and reauthorization. (Grumpy emphasis and red, think Obamacare waivers)

Duncan has warned that 82 percent of U.S. schools could be labeled failures next year if No Child Left Behind isn't changed. Education experts have questioned that estimate.

Still, no one thinks states will meet the law's goal of having 100 percent of students proficient in math and reading by 2014. A school that fails to meet targets for several consecutive years faces sanctions that can include firing teachers or closing the school entirely.

Duncan said he's encouraged by talks with federal lawmakers in recent weeks indicating the law might see revisions this year. But he said he wants a backup plan in case that doesn't happen.

"We can't afford to do nothing," he said. (Emphasis added)

Reading the comments from the readers, superintendents, administrators and teachers on these mandates from DESE and the Federal government, it seems as if the vast majority of them believe it would actually be best for education reform if the governmental bureaucrats did nothing. It would be preferable to them if no action was undertaken, the "slow motion train wreck" occurred, and the authority to education students was left to the local districts.

Here is a reader's comment from the msnbc.com site:

C'mon now, this has been law through half of Obama's term without a whisper of change. Shooting for 100% proficiency in what would be its 13th year is not exactly like setting a goal for zero crime. All they did was shoot for reasonable improvement each year to get kids up to grade level, and obviously they failed.

The Federal Education Department needs to be disbanded - they are a waste, a redundancy, and accomplish nothing except to spend our money on useless bureaucrats. Tell me exactly what does some idiot in DC know about a school district in Dos Palos, or anywhere else for that matter?

All education is local - it's far passed time to stop sending money to DC to waste on useless bureaucracy.

Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:12 AM EDT

and from the St. Louis Post Dispatch article:

westcountyteacher said on: June 11, 2011, 7:44 am

There will never be enough money to do any of this. The state mandates, but provides no funding. The state cannot even afford to maintain its own program let alone expect schools to jump through more hoops. Will private schools have to jump through these hoops? Doubtful, which once again gives private schools another advantage over public schools. Private schools can use their money to actually help students and not waste the time of teachers and administrators. Is DESE trying to destroy public education?

Once again, the taxpayers who are paying into a system in which they have no administrative control or voice, demonstrate they have more common sense than the bureaucrats deciding what children must learn and how they are tested, with no regard to the cost or outcome

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Grumpy Note:

Recently I was told that because I oppose Obama's Education Reform proposals I was using Grumpy to promote liberal propaganda,,,

Since STLGretchen also writes for the St Louis Tea Party, I thought it might be a good time to clear up any misuderstanding... Please read the comments I posted.  It looks like there's a whole host of conservatives who agree with me.

Education Reform: Parent Action Spreads

Posted For Sandra In Brevard

The highlights indicate the States where parent organizing against teaching to the test are in action. All indications suggest this is a growing grassroots movement. President Obama's recently announced proposals for changing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) are likely to fuel more action. Here are some highlights from the President's education reform plan with regard to testing:


NCLB Status Quo: Rely on unsophisticated bubble tests to grade students and schools.


The Obama Plan: Support better tests. The Obama Administration has invested $350 million to support states in their efforts to create more sophisticated assessment systems that measure problem solving and other 21st century skills and that will provide teachers will timely information to help them improve instruction.

NCLB Status Quo: A narrow curriculum focused only reading and math.


The Obama Plan: Invest in state and local efforts to develop a well-rounded curriculum and allow states to include subjects beyond reading and math in their accountability system.


SB736 mirrors the goals the Obama Administration has in mind as educational reform. So, if you are a supporter and proponent of SB736, then you will be cheering. On the other hand, if you were concerned about the lack of details, lack of cost analysis, and continuing an obsession with tests, then things are not looking so good.

Read the President's education plan here.

UPDATE: EDWEEK reports that U.S. Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton "clarified" Obama's statement about too much testing, by countering it:

"While we're open to how we can best assess student progress in subject areas like history and science, we believe annual measures in reading and math are needed to assess progress toward college- and career-readiness. More must be done to improve the quality of those assessments, so that they're a more meaningful measure of student learning"

That certainly clears things up now....clear as mud. The President prefers less, the U.S Office of Education prefers the more.
 
Read the rest of Sandra's Education Blogs Here