What is the future of a nation in which control of education is handed to politicians and entrepreneurs? These groups have shown by their actions they do not have the best interests of children as priority. Watching the gradual destruction of public school districts across America has been like the scenario of a frog slowly boiled.
What kind of society will we have if all public schools are gone? Imagine if all we have for K-12 education are charter and private schools run by profit-seeking groups? There are already places where neighborhood schools have been forcefully closed. Children are sent on buses to schools far from home. Many cannot afford fees to attend private schools, and charter schools are able to choose what students to accept.
In a society where success of children and teachers is evaluated by numerical rankings obtained on a test produced and scored by a for-profit company in England, who is going to care about those with lower numbers? Shall we release those children onto the streets?
As a mother and citizen of the United States, I am distressed that an orchestrated, greedy plan by a few is being enacted on many people who seem unaware of danger. Toxic testing is, as we speak, draining away large quantities of time, mental/emotional energy, money, and joy from the learning environment in schools.
Citizens, wake up. Plug the drain. Stop the tests. Starve the beast by opting out (www.unitedoptout.com).
For more background about how these events progressed, watch “Defies Measurement,” a documentary about education in America. It especially chronicles the negative changes that happened to one exemplary school (http://www.shineonpro.com/).
Brenda Richardson
Battle Ground
