Category: News

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Domestic Policies Indiana News Politics

Corporate America Hangs a left

All of the tension that’s been building in the grand Republican coalition, that uneasy mix of practical business, low taxes, libertarianism and the uncompromising religious sector is now being released. And it’s not working out for the most conservative of the party’s members.

Just a week ago it seemed that at least two new states, Indiana and Arkansas, would pass religious freedom laws that would, in essence, allow people to claim that a robust religious objection to a state or federal law was enough to nullify it, at least for the objector. By the end of the week, both states had to backtrack and add key provisions that did not allow religious people from discriminating against gays and lesbians, among others. Why the change?

Corporations. Walmart. Angie’s List. Axium. et.al.

Big business has seen the light and it’s a bright one. No, not the one that people who have near-death experiences talk about. This is the one that shines into the deep dark corners of discrimination, hatred and prejudice.  Yes, corporations do love they money, but they’re also getting a bit of a soul. After all, corporations are people too, right?

But uncovering the cloistered minds of the far right isn’t the only move forward. Major national businesses are also starting to…wait for it…raise wages. Yes, I know that it’s only a dollar more an hour for now, but the prospect of rising wages for those most in need is a positive step.

Despite a conservative movement that’s made great inroads into American political, economic and social culture, the basic democratic ideals of tolerance, respect for diversity and fairness have endured and are now beginning to emerge from an era where they were somewhat battered and bruised. Americans truly want a government that will stay out of its bedrooms and workplaces even as they want to make sure that there is a safety net for life’s perplexities.

This is why I think the GOP will end up nominating another more moderate candidate in 2016. That won’t make the conservatives happy, but it really is the best hope for the party. And the Democrats had better not take their supporters for granted. The economy is better, but job growth seems to have slowed and the deal with Iran is not a slam dunk, nor should it be.

For now, though, business seems to be on the side of a wider, more inclusive market. And that’s good news.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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News

Cell Phone Video Shows Chaotic Sceen Inside Doomed German Plane Before Crash

Photo: Getty Images

The New York Post is reporting that a cellphone video from the doomed Germanwings flight shows that helpless passengers knew they were flying toward their deaths — and many could be heard screaming “Oh my God!” in the final seconds, according to French and German reports Tuesday.

The reports describe a chaotic cabin scene with terrified shouts in several languages — as the pilot desperately bangs on the cockpit door to get inside.

Toward the end, after a heavy shake, the shouts and screams intensify. Then they stop.

French magazine Paris Match and German newspaper Bild both described the video but did not post it on their Web sites.

A police spokesman said the reports were completely wrong. However, he did acknowledge that cellphones had been collected at the crash site.

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Benjamin Netanyahu Foreign Policies ISIS Israel News Nuclear Security Politics

All Eyes On Israel

We’re going to need our mucking boots today because we’re going to wade into the Middle East. Until now, I have assiduously avoided all mention of the region because it’s messy and confusing and controversial and, quite frankly, my ideas have, shall we say, evolved over time. But the events of the day are far too important and compelling for me to stay away from the issues, so I am now going to opine. With FEEling.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a first and world-class jerk who has no business actually running a government. His comments last week on the eve of the Israeli elections regarding a two state solution with the Palestinians and his warnings about Israeli Arabs voting in droves have only widened the differences between Israel and both the US government and many American Jews. His speech in front of Congress, orchestrated by the House Republican leadership and done without consulting or notifying the Obama Administration, was a new low in political gaming and rogue foreign policy. That the speech almost ended up actually costing Netanyahu his election, and thus his need to play the racist, far-right card, told us that he would do anything to win votes (not a bad thing in and of itself, mind you). His persistent warnings about Iran’s intentions to build a bomb and use it on Israel are complicating the nuclear talks between the US and Iran, and his approval of new Israeli settlements is angering our allies around the world.

And yet…

Netanyahu and his right wing government, is the only institution that is standing between Israel’s future existence and radical, terrorist, anti-Semitic entities that want to destroy it. His focus on Israel’s security is a prerequisite for winning and holding national office and, along with the economy, is the main issue for both domestic and foreign consumption. He’s a strong leader and has been able to navigate his way through the thickets of his country’s political system en route to 4 national election victories.

I support Israel and believe that it must survive and thrive as a testament to its Jewish roots, its democracy, its vibrant culture and its place as an island of hope in a hostile world. I also believe that there should be a state for the Palestinians because the present political and social arrangement is unsustainable and in some cases, inhuman. But now we are stuck because the current state of world affairs is so polarized and unforgiving that any compromise seems impossible. Radical Islamic groups would like nothing more than to see Israel destroyed. Israel needs to confront its adversaries and deserves the right to defend itself against attacks from both rockets and words.

What to do? The easy thing is to say that the Arab and Islamic states need to formally recognize that Israel exists and will continue to exist, and that the Israelis need to recognize that they will have to give up some land that they won in the six-day war of 1967. Militant groups will need to give up their weapons and stop using them against Israel, and Israel will need to loosen some of the border restrictions so that the Palestinians can freely conduct commerce and make their economy grow. Sounds easy, right?

Of course it isn’t and Netanyahu isn’t going to help. He’s going to hold a hard line now and wait to see who the next US president is going to be, hoping it’s someone he can work with, since his relationship with Obama is probably irreparable. I’m sure he’d love to see a more aggressive neo-conservative Republican, but I think Hillary Clinton would fit the bill too.

In the meantime, he’ll continue to oppose anything that might threaten Israel and will oppose any agreement with the Iranians. And there will be an agreement with the Iranians because deep down I think the Iranians want an agreement on their nuclear program. The Iranian economy is in shambles because of sanctions and the middle class (yes, there is a middle class) is demanding a place in the larger world. A nuclear agreement would also hold the Iranians to specific actions and inspections that, while there are many who say they will ultimately ignore any limits, will require Iran to play by the world’s rules if it wants to be taken seriously. I could be utterly misreading the politics, but I don’t think so. Attacking Israel with a nuclear weapon will only invite Iran’s destruction. They clearly don’t want that.

The prospects for genuine peace in the region look about as bleak as they ever have, and it will probably take a new generation of leadership to improve them. Of course, weren’t we saying the same thing in the 1970s?

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Featured News

Body of Black Man Found Hanging From a Tree in Mississippi – Video

This, from a FBI statement. “Earlier in the day, the Claiborne County Sheriffs Department and the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks conducted a ground search for a man who had been missing since early March. Officers located a man hanging in the woods near Roddy Road a half mile from his last known residence.

“The sheriff’s department contacted the MBI and FBI for forensic and investigative assistance. Investigators are currently processing the scene for evidence to determine the cause and manner of death​.”

The man was reported missing on March 8 after disappearing on March 2nd.

Video via CNN

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Domestic Policies Education George Bush News Politics

On Education: Can’t See the Forest for the Bushes

AFP PHOTO/Saul LOEB

Remember the education president? That would be George H.W. Bush, who promised that he would focus on improving schools so that the United States would be number one in educating its children for the new millennium. His Goals 2000: Educate America Act had terrific political nuggets such as:

All children in America will start school ready to learn. 

The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent.

United States students will be first in the world in mathematics and science achievement.

Every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning. 

Of course, these goals were not met because they aren’t realistic. Public institutions that suffer from inadequate funding and political interference can’t guarantee that all students or every adult will do anything except be disappointed that as a nation, we couldn’t do better.

The along came his son, George W. Bush, who promised that the No Child Left Behind Act would do for America what its smaller implementation had done to Texas in the 1990s. This meant that all students would pass state tests by 2014 and schools that didn’t perform, either overall or because any subset of racial, ethnic or gender categories did not score well enough on said tests, would be closed. Bush even made Houston Superintendent of Schools Rod Paige the Secretary of Education.

That’s when the real story of how the Texas Education Miracle became one more Bush myth. It turns out that Paige and Bush cooked the graduation rate books, inflating the number of students who met school standards and essentially erased the records of students who dropped out or had discipline problems.

The NCLB was based on faulty numbers, but that didn’t stop it from infecting every aspect of school reform for the next decade. Testing became rampant and disruptive. Private testing companies like Pearson Education got very wealthy creating tests and changing the curriculum. President Obama’s embrace of this model was disturbing, and has led us to where we are today, wasting huge chunks of time modifying what students need to know and testing them not once (March), but twice (late April or early May).

Now word comes that the third Bush who wants to be president, former Florida Governor Jeb, promoted a charter school in Miami that is now closed, but he’s running as if the school is a shining successful example of his education agenda. The basic problem seemed to be that as a private citizen, Bush was able to raise money and be the face of the school, but as governor, he could not have his name on the school’s letterhead nor could he raise funds privately. Other issues also intervened, namely that Bush had to balance the state budget and unfortunately there wasn’t enough to pay for public schools and charters. Simply, the toy lost its luster.

But at least he has a policy that applies to the classroom. Compare that to Governor Chris Christie’s approach to education. He’s focused solely on economics and making sure that teachers, and indeed all public unions, pay more and more for their benefits while he skirts his own law and refuses to make full payments to the pension system.

In fact, you would think that Christie and the New Jersey Education Association made a major agreement on teacher benefits, according to a speech Christie made in Florida last week. There is no agreement, and there won’t be one on his terms. But I guess that when you’re running for president, you can say anything you want, and in the end, most people won’t know or care to know the difference.

That’s what happened with the two previous Bushes. Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Benjamin Netanyahu Domestic Policies Education Foreign Policies Healthcare Immigration Reform Israel Mitch McConnell News Nuclear Security Politics

Elected, Perchance to Govern?

Mitch McConnell, moderate. I thought I’d never see that characterization, but after last week’s embarrassing, incompetent, dangerous gambit the House Republicans played, he’s looking like the only GOP adult in the room. John Boehner seems to have lost his caucus and is now dependent on the far right to dictate what gets done in the House, and what’s getting done is virtually nothing. Kicking the Homeland Security funding argument to this week will do nothing except make Friday night another frantic opportunity for brinkmanship and Obama-bashing. In the end, Homeland Security will get funding and the president’s immigration changes will stand. The real losers will be the people who work for the agency as they bite their nails and wait to see if they’ll be getting paid for another week. If terrorists read American news sources, they are surely laughing at us.

Not content to make itself look bad on the domestic front, the Republicans doubled down and asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to come and speak to a joint session of Congress, an honor he will deliver this week. Never mind that his visit, essentially a jab at the Obama administrations efforts to negotiate a nuclear treaty with Iran, will only put more on strain US-Israel relations, although there are reports that things might be getting less strained. Mr. Netanyahu, I’m sure, will have important things to say. The problem is that he might want to think twice before attaching himself to the clown car Congress that can’t seem to find money to pay for homeland security, much less debate a serious issue like a possible Iranian nuclear weapon.

This is also the week that the Supreme Court will hear arguments in King v. Burwell, the case that challenges whether the federal government can give subsidies to people who buy health insurance on the federal exchange. The plaintiffs believe that only those who buy policies on state exchanges should get subsidies. Which of course begs the question, if the court rules for the plaintiffs, will they work feverishly to make sure that the states without exchanges set them up quickly so the law can work and millions of people can keep their health care?

Of course not.  This is most likely the final attempt to destroy a law that is working wonderfully and is fundamentally changing the health care landscape for the better. Also, the states that would suffer the most if the subsidies are struck down will be the poorest, reddest states in the country. You know, the ones whose citizens vote against their interests by electing governments that seek to limit the programs their people desperately need.

And the state that would suffer the most? Florida. Does Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio have a fall back plan if millions of Floridians lose their health insurance? No. Do both of them want to be president? Of course, but what a catastrophe either of them would be.

And finally, this week will see the rollout of the PARCC tests across the nation. School districts are hoping that their technology holds up and that students can navigate the many screen they’ll need to use in order to answer the questions. Some families have decided that they don’t want their students to participate, so they’ve opted out, or “refused” to take the tests as the officials like to characterize it, The testing will take almost three weeks and then return in late April or early May, taking more valuable time and resources from classrooms and actual learning. The tests will mean almost nothing to students, but for teachers, they will count for 10% of their yearly evaluation (in New Jersey, at least). I give these tests five years, and then the education establishment will move on to something newer.

March is certainly roaring in.

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Domestic Policies Education Express Yourself News Politics

Christie Tells It Like It’s Not

It’s getting a bit too easy finding contradictions and hypocritical statements in what Governor Chris Christie is saying these days. That must mean he’s running for president.

On his signature issue, pension and benefit reform, the governor went back on his promise to make a full payment for 2014, and his administration even argued in court that the 2011 reform bill is unconstitutional. These are both odd turns, but they are simply a matter of doing business under a man who shamelessly switches policy positions, excoriates those who disagree with him, and simply does what is politically expedient with no central philosophy or plan to guide him.

And through all of this hypocrisy, Christie has the nerve to say that he “tells it like it is.” As a keen observer of national and state politics, I can say with 100% confidence that people who rely on that phrase do not tell it anything near what it is and are, in fact, blowhards who like to hear themselves talk.

The latest example of Christie’s flip-flop road show occurred this week on the issue of the Common Core educational standards. Two years ago, the governor was all for the national standards and agreed with President Obama that the country would be better off with benchmarks on which all states could be evaluated. He even said that this issue should not be politicized.

Clearly, things have changed. Last week in Iowa, he said,

“I have grave concerns about the way this has been done, especially the way the Obama administration has tried to implement it through tying federal funding to these things. And that changes the entire nature of it, from what was initially supposed to be voluntary type system and states could decide on their own to now having federal money tied to it in ways that really, really give me grave concerns.
 
“So we’re in the midst of re-examination of it in New Jersey….It is something I’m very concerned about, because in the end education needs to be a local issue.”

Yes, he even used the word “grave” twice. This is a man who is definitely running for president.

The problem is that he is mistrusted among the conservatives who will decide two of the first three Republican popularity tests, Iowa and South Carolina, and is mistrusted in New Hampshire, the third test, because he has no record to run on. In fact, he’s running fourth among the early names being bandied about for the GOP nod, which wouldn’t be terrible, except that two of the four ahead of him, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, are competing for the same voters as Christie is. He’s going to have to muscle past those two, and they don’t have the scandals and YouTube rantings that he does. I would never count Christie out, but pandering to the right is not the road that “tell it like it is” Chris wants to navigate.

This also comes on the heels of a poll in New Jersey that shows the governor’s popularity and approval ratings at their four year lows. That’s not the political environment in which you’d like to start a national run, but that’s what the man has done since being reelected rather emphatically in November 2013. For a politician who says he knows how to safeguard public money, he sure has spent and wasted a great deal of political capital.

If Christie really wanted to reverse himself, I’d rather it be that he decides next week to build the third rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Or by fully funding public education. Those would definitely show that he knows how to tell it like it is. I’m not holding my breath, though.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Domestic Policies Education News Politics teachers

The Best and Brightest Have Let Us Down

I get very tired very quickly when I hear that we need the best and brightest to become classroom teachers in the United States. For one, it’s incredibly insulting because it assumes that the teachers we have now in public schools are somehow subpar, which is not true. Further, it also assumes that the elite students at elite colleges need to swoop down and save education because the best students make the best teachers, right?

Wrong. Oh, so wrong.

Don’t misunderstand me: I support all effective teachers across the country who want to make a difference in any type of school, public or private, and who want to educate students. This includes those from Teach for America, the program that began in 1990 at Princeton University and places the best and brightest into urban schools for specified periods of time, usually three years. The program has been criticized for providing a short-term conscience break for smarties who then leave the classroom and make billions as hedge fund managers and tech company start-up junkies. It has also been lauded for enabling the most difficult school districts to staff their classes with committed teachers who knew what they were getting into they signed up for TFA.

For 15 years, the program grew. For the past two, growth has stopped. That’s bad news for the districts that rely on TFA graduates, but it might be the beginning of good news for the rest of public education. Why? Although TFA was founded on a laudable goal, the program was also responsible for pushing some of the worst reforms education has seen in decades. From the article:

Teach for America has sent hundreds of graduates to Capitol Hill, school superintendents’ offices and education reform groups, seeding a movement that has supported testing and standards, teacher evaluations tethered to student test scores, and a weakening of teacher tenure.

It seems that the best and brightest are neither when it comes to new ideas on how to improve education. They, along with the conservative know-nothings who inhabit statehouse governments and education commissionerships, relied on untested data purporting to show a connection between student test scores and teacher effectiveness, and supported ever more Charter schools that take public money away from public schools that have legal mandates to deliver a quality education to all students. Weakening teacher tenure and injecting market competition in the schools round out the final failures on their list as both destroy the culture and ethos that have protected the public schools from unwanted political interference, commercialization and data-mongers of all political stripes.

Ten years from now, those still left in education will look back on this era as not only misguided, but destructive; an era from which it will take a few years to recover and reclaim the ideas that actually work in the classroom. By then, the best and brightest will be back on Wall Street or law school or boardrooms touting their latest ventures and perhaps reflecting on the years they spent in the program. I applaud their efforts as teachers. For many, it will inform the rest of their lives. For others, it allowed them to realize a community service dream in a neglected corner of the country.

But for their support of ideas that have wreaked havoc in the classroom and resulted in a culture of testing that undermines effective teaching, I will forever rue the day that they joined the reform conversation. I have met far better and far brighter minds who didn’t attend elite schools and who have enriched teaching and learning across the United States.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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News

Detroit Man Who Walks 21 Miles a Day to Work ‘So Grateful’ Over $149,000 Raised for Him

When James Robertson’s 1988 Honda Accord broke down a decade ago, the Detroit man didn’t just go out and buy a new one.

Instead, Robertson, who makes $10.55 an hour – not enough to buy, maintain and insure a car – decided he was going to walk to and from work, a journey that stretches a marathon-length 21 miles.

He also takes a bus partway to his job destination: Schain Mold & Engineering.

Last Sunday, the Detroit Free Press reported that the 56-year-old has been making this long trek for years, no matter the weather.

“I don’t think what I do is big deal,” Robertson tells PEOPLE. “I do what I have to do to get to work in the morning. It’s just a part of my life.”

What it takes, he says, is determination and faith.

“My parents taught me hard work ethic growing up in Detroit,” he says. “It’s all about keeping your schedule on track and focusing your mind on what matters.”

After the newspaper article on Robertson was published, Evan Leedy, 19, a student at Wayne State University, became inspired.

“I was blown away,” Leedy tells PEOPLE. “He has been doing this for so long and doesn’t complain. I thought of myself and how most people could never do what he does every single day.”

As Leedy was looking through the readers’ comments on the story, he saw people asking how they could donate money to help Robertson get a car.

“I then decided to create a GoFundMe page where people could donate,” says Leedy. “I set the goal for $5,000, but I really didn’t think many people would see it or donate.”

Before he knew it, thousands of dollars were coming in. One day later, more 5,300 people donated a total in excess of $149,000.

“We now have car dealerships and car companies saying they will donate a car,” Leedy says. “We can now use this money to truly change James’ life.”

Robertson currently doesn’t live in a great neighborhood, and even with a car, he lives far from work.

“We can get him a nice place to live,” Leedy says. “A place he deserves.”

On Monday night, Leedy and Robertson met for the first time.

“It was so amazing to finally meet James,” Leedy said. “I am really just so happy people trusted that the money was going to him so we can help turn his life around. He deserves it.”

The first word that comes to Robertson’s mind when he thinks of Leedy and the thousands that have donated: Shocked.

“I am just so stunned,” he says. “Who would have thought that just a simple walk would have turned into this? I would have told you that you were crazy a few days ago.”

Robertson is looking forward to putting his walking days behind him.

“I am taking this as a sign that it’s time I start driving again,” he said. “And getting more than two hours of sleep a night.”

Robertson leaves for work at 8 a.m. to get to work in time for his 2 p.m. shift as an injection molder.

When he finishes work at 10 p.m, he starts his trek home.

His colleagues notice that although he never complains about having to walk, they can see it’s taking a toll on his body.

“He comes in here looking real tired – his legs, his knees,” his coworker Janet Vallardo, 59, of Auburn Hills, told the Free Press.

Robertson doesn’t just make this walk for his paycheck. He also cares about the people he has worked with for so many years.

“We’re like a family,” Robertson, who also gets fed dinner every weeknight by the plant manager’s wife, tells the newspaper. “I look at her food, I always say, ‘Excellent. No, not excellent. Phenomenal.'”

Despite his long and strenuous commute, Robertson is never late for work.

“I set our attendance standard by this man,” Todd Wilson, plant manager at Schain Mold & Engineering, told the newspaper. “I say, ‘If this man can get here, walking all those miles through snow and rain ….’ Well, I’ll tell you, I have people in Pontiac, 10 minutes away, and they say they can’t get here – Bull!”

h/t – people

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Domestic Policies Education New Jersey News Politics teachers

PARCC Storm II: Sunshine Peeks Through

Another week, and more snow is expected in the northeast. There’s more over the PARCC testing storm as well, but this time, there is a ray of sane sunshine.

Here in New Jersey, State Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex), chairman of the Assembly’s education committee, has introduced a bill that would detail a procedure for how parents could opt out of the tests. He’s working on another bill that would delay the use of the tests to evaluate students and teachers for up to three years. Not that using tests for such evaluation is ever a good idea, whether it’s now or in 2018, but a delay might give testing opponents, which include most educators who work in classrooms, an opportunity to put the movement out of our misery.

The other good news is that another bill sponsored by state Assemblyman David Rible (R-Monmouth) would put limits on how student data is used and disseminated. The Christie administration has said that student privacy protections are in place, but that’s quickly becoming the most laughable line in any industry, much less in education. See Target, Home Depot, and anyone involved in The Interview. Plus, Christie can’t even keep his political operatives from talking about their political contretemps. How is he going to safeguard the privacy of all the schoolchildren in New Jersey?

New FAQs about the PARCC tests released by the state Department of Education do say that the tests are not mandatory even though many districts are sending the implicit message that they are. Other districts and organizations are sponsoring evenings where members of the community can come and take a sample test to see what their children will experience. These evenings are being presented as informational sessions, but clearly if parents don’t like what they see, they could take action.

Right now, the opt-out movement is small, but it is growing. As we get closer to the March administration, I would expect that more parents will take their children out of the tests. There might even be more opt-outs after the March tests once students go home and tell their parents/caregivers about their experiences. The final administration is in late April or early May.

For all the talk about the procedural aspects of PARCC, the real issue is what the tests actually measure and whether students are doing their best, either because they’ve decided that they don’t want to bother or are flummoxed by technology issues.

These are high stakes tests for only one group: teachers, because student scores can determine whether one is retained or fired. The ultimate irony is that the people who will be most affected will be the ones with the least amount of control on test day.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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News Texas

Texas Executes Second Inmate of 2015

A Texas man convicted of killing a 38-year-old woman nearly two decades ago while he was on parole for a triple slaying years earlier was executed Thursday evening, Dallas News reports.

Robert Ladd, 57, received a lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected arguments he was mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty. The court also rejected an appeal in which Ladd’s attorney challenged whether the pentobarbital Texas uses in executions is potent enough to not cause unconstitutional pain and suffering.

Ladd was executed for the 1996 slaying of 38-year-old Vicki Ann Garner, of Tyler, who was strangled and beaten with a hammer. Her arms and legs were bound, bedding was placed between her legs, and she was set on fire in her apartment.

In his final statement, Ladd addressed the sister of his victim by name, telling her he was “really, really sorry.”

“I really, really hope and pray you don’t have hatred in your heart,” he said, adding that he didn’t think she could have closure but hoped she could find peace. “A revenge death won’t get you anything,” he said.

Then Ladd told the warden: “Let’s ride.”

As the drug took effect, he said: “Stings my arm, man!” He began taking deep breaths, then started snoring. His snores became breaths, each one becoming less pronounced, before he stopped all movement.

He was pronounced dead at 7:02 p.m., 27 minutes after the drug was administered.

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Domestic Policies Education News Politics

Salting the PARCCing Lot

Educators, are you getting excited? No, not about the next snowstorm, which looks like a whopper, but about the PARCC tests? You’d better be, because they are on the way and the impact will be measurable and unpredictable.

For those non-educators, the PARCC tests are the standardized tests that students in grades 3-11 will take in two administrations; March and April/May. They are tied to the Common Core Curriculum Standards and claim to be the newest, latest, greatest, most bestest tests to evaluate teacher performance and to prepare our students for further leaning, college, and the working world. Parents, teachers, administrators and politicians have debated whether these new tests, and the Common Core, are appropriate or will even measure what they purport to measure. Some states adopted the Common Core and the tests, then un-adopted them.

The bottom line, though, is that they are almost here.

I’ve taken some sample tests, and so can you. Go ahead and give it a try. Notice what students are being asked to do and how they are being asked to do it. My assumption is that it’s different from what you were asked to do in school. This is the point: The standards and tests are asking educators and students to approach education from a different perspective. In some ways, it’s a more productive, intuitive approach, and in others, it’s downright confounding.

One of the main issues in New Jersey and, I suspect, in most other states, is the availability and reliability of the school’s technology. All of the tests are taken on computers and all of the students will probably log on to their school’s systems at the same time. This will probably cause some networks to slow down and/or crash. Also, many schools do not have enough computers for all of their students, which will result in significant disruptions to the school schedule as students will need to test in shifts.

And as much as adults like to fool themselves into thinking that children are all adept at using computers, the facts are that many students can’t keyboard quickly, do not understand how technology works, or how to manipulate the screens as these tests require. There is a section of the high school language arts test where students will need to read and manage three sources on three different windows with three different scroll bars and write an essay using all of the readings. That can be a challenge. For younger students, actual keyboarding will be a problem. There are no computer bubble sheets or booklets on these tests. A slow typist will have trouble.

The actual testing, though, is still only part of the issue. These tests will be used to evaluate teachers, which is, and always has been, a terrible idea. Using any high-stakes test, especially one given for the first time on unpredictable technology by students who haven’t had a full school year of Common Core instruction, is folly.

Besides, the tests really are only high-stakes for the teachers, not the students. How’s that for sound policy? If a student decides the test is too difficult or they can’t type or didn’t eat a good breakfast that morning, then a teacher could get fired. This is what you get when know-nothing politicians decide, without significant teacher input, what’s best for education.

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