It will take a huge amount of political activism to change the way things are in public education.
Parents of school age children, and taxpayers that do not like the ways that their money is being spent, must unite to force their board members to change their support for the testing culture or be voted out of office. Most of the board members are not educators. They run for office with the sole purpose of gaining name recognition to attain higher office. They receive their information from the out-of-touch, long time downtown administrators.
Along with a compliant or new school board would come the choice of a Superintendent who sees things the same as the electorate. It would be the superintendent’s responsibility to eliminate the deadwood downtown.
If there was only one test per school year (and one is all you need), just imagine how rich the schools would be with staff and programs, as the money spent on tests and test preparation materials could go directly to the schools.
Meanwhile, parents can opt out of end of the year tests. There is a major movement found through Google and Facebook to opt out of the state tests.
Teachers have to play a part, as did the teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle who have chosen not to administer a test. They have to speak out and inform parents of the realities of the testing culture versus an all around education.
The influence of the major textbook publishers and the test publishers along with the billionaires, celebrities, and politicians who never attended public schools must be eliminated.
A change in Washington at the Department of Education with a new department head would help things. An occupation of the Department is planned and a Dump Duncan campaign has begun.
The media, all major providers and Internet bloggers, would need to be persuaded to be supportive. The city council, state legislators, the governor, and the mayor would have to be convinced that it would be to their best interests to join the campaign to return education to the students and end the testing culture.
A war well fighting; a campaign that is supported all over the United States; a shot from Seattle heard around the nation; and most importantly the future of our children, the future of public education, and the future of our nation and world are at stake.
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