Straightforward –
Socialists need to stand with School Board member Barbara A Seals
Nevergold on her petition to remove schools from receivership.
The basis for her
petition is that the Common Core Standards and testing are proven to
be flawed. That is why the test scores were removed from teacher
evaluations until 2019. (Hopefully that can be extended.)
And let's be clear
on this: 20% of all NYS students opted out of the tests during the
2014-2015 school year because parents were opposed to the tests.
Even with the reforms that will be put into place this year (fewer
questions so that students have more time and a proposal to cut down
the number of days) this number needs to go up. No testing at all
based on the No Child Left Behind law (repeal it) and Race to the Top
(it should join NCLB in a repeal) should be done. There is no proof
that testing works to improve student achievement.
Now, given the
flaws in the standards and testing, then schools need to be removed
from receivership. As an extension – schools that are designated
as SINI (Schools In Need of Improvement) need to have that
designation dropped because of the flawed tests and standards.
Under SINI
designation – schools can have part of their budget taken from them
and be given to an outside organization to come in and offer
remediation. If the school district is impoverished, this cut to
the budget hurts even more and can make it harder to remove the SINI
designation. If the designation sticks too long, then the state can
take over the school and privatize it through receivership.
Buffalo is in the
front lines of this battle and Barbara Nevergold is the Joan of Arc
(hopefully with a happer ending) of this battle.
She has a petition
that everyone needs to sign. If she can win in Buffalo, we can
extend this victory across the state and help countless more
students.
Go to
thepetitionsite.com/takeaction and search for Nevergold.
Never has there been
a more Golden moment.
Let's seize it.
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