Let's Get Some Answers on K-12 Ed from Presidential Candidates

From the Network for Public Education:

We've created an action campaign asking Rachel Maddow, the host of the next Democratic presidential forum, to ask one of our 8 questions. Voters should know how the candidates feel about crucial issues like high-stakes standardized testing, student privacy, and equitable funding. With a couple of clicks, you can send her an email, and let her know education policy needs to be part of the discussion.

You may have seen Network for Public Education President Diane Ravitch's recent article in Salon. In that piece, Diane cautioned that in 2012 the subject of K-12 education was largely ignored. She said:
The media and citizens at public forums must not let that happen again. Education is central to our future as a nation; it is also the single largest item in every state’s budget. Yet the candidates for the 2016 race in both parties are talking only about pre-kindergarten and higher education, skipping right over the important issues that face millions of children and educators in public schools today.
Diane has done her part to elevate the conversation about our public schools -- now it's up to us! To get these questions asked, NPE ACTION NEEDS YOU!

We've made it super easy. Just follow this link, and with a couple of clicks you can let Rachel Maddow know how important K-12 education issues are to you.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I think equally as relevant as high stakes testing is Common Core alignment and asking questions of Larry Nyland and the current SPS Board.

NAEP Math collapse and Common Core connection

How the SPS Board, who should be supervising Mr. Nyland, can be considering a contract extension for him at this time is incomprehensible.

The district has failed to inform the public of the huge change in k-12 math scope and sequence, which is centered around an overly strict interpretation of Common Core math alignment.

Then again the Board and the Administration failed to inform the public, so in the secret world of SPS, I guess this proposed raise and contract extension for Mr. Nyland all makes sense. .... Gotta git 'er dun before the new board is seated.

-- Dan Dempsey
Outsider said…
I wonder, does it make sense to simultaneously:
1) complain non-stop about federal mandates such as Common Core and testing, and shoot peas at the outgoing federal secretary of education
2) urge presidential candidates to take on K-12 education
I realize that the feds are unique among all levels of government in the ability to print money, and that gives them a sugar daddy quality. And sure, it's possible to be a sugar daddy and expect nothing in return. But there might be a counter-argument: the more important something is at a local level, the more the DC politicians should keep their mitts off it.

There is a counter argument: the feds will always only be a wedge for forcing crony capitalists and social engineering into the schools, and will never make schools better no matter how much they spend.
Anonymous said…
Outsider makes excellent points. A good path would be:

3) urge presidential candidates to get the feds out of K-12 education to the fullest extent possible.

Here is a piece on Common Core from Author

Gilbert T. Sewall: director of the American Textbook Council in New York City. He is the author of Necessary Lessons: Decline and Renewal in American Schools and editor of The Eighties: A Reader.

Why Common Core Is Cracking Up

-- Dan Dempsey

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