Re: Netiquette

["George N. Schmidt" <Csubstance@AOL.COM>]

In a message dated 1/29/01 5:12:51 PM, judih@OUSD.K12.CA.US writes:

<< I'd rather say I was sorry after doing something than being afraid to act.
>>

Hey Judi, welcome back from New Zealand.

Amen, amen, amen.

As the testing season approaches, why not urge all of us to review what we've
done -- as opposed to said -- in relation to the high-stakes (and mid-stakes,
and low-stakes) monsters that are stalking the land. Although the saying's
important, the doing's what's going to matter in the next four months. After
that, another bunch of kids had been chadded, Number 2 penciled, and, in some
cases, really, really, really screwed for life. Details? Available and large.

Last night, we went over another bunch of interesting stuff that came in in a
PLAIN BROWN WRAPPER. I hope my other colleagues in the media are getting
similar information so they can themselves evaluate the actual (surgical)
"instruments" which "standards and accountability" are using to operate on
children and manipulate teachers.

By April, the tests will be upon the children in many places and teachers
will be forced to make choices again. And by May, virtually everywhere will
the Number 2 Penciles be out.

At that point -- and it's only a few weeks away -- let's hope we're not just
responding to distractors -- either from well-meaning people, or from those
who really want to keep action out of the test resistance equation by talking
things to death (and playing "Gotcha!" games with people who are out there
organizing).

At the point where the tests are going on in real classrooms and with real
kids being screwed by them (either by "failing" in secret -- or by being
puffed up with high scores that don't mean nuthin'), we'll hopefully be
hearing reports of resistance here every day.

Let's hope we don't get bogged down in trivia pursuit until we've cleared
every school, district, and state of every last high-stakes test victim's
body bag.

And at that point, when (rough estimate only) 30 million kids are taking
these multiple-choice monstrosities in the classrooms of more than 2 million
teachers, let's hope a few people have done a bit to stop the machine, too.

And if the ways we share the information on all that are sometimes not
perfect, at least they are very good. It's only been two years since (on
January 26, 1999) Chicago's mayor, schools CEO, and school board president
were all over the evening news (five stations -- all the major network
affiliates plus Fox and WGN here in Chicago) telling the world I stole $1
million by publshing some of those dumb CASE tests they had just given that
month.

The people here were among those who knew how our priorities had to refocus.
Others tried to slime me and my 30-year reputation, both overtly and
behind-the-scenes. We decided to ignore a lot of that goofiness, sustain our
work, and focus on the central issues everyone's discussing here.

A couple of months after I was put on the chopping block, administrators (and
media) in the Boston area used the Columbine (remember that?) media event to
persecute Curt Doble and to try and slime the Massachusetts resistance and
our friends from the Organized Students of Chicago (among others). Remember
the hysteria about the psychopaths in the "trench coat mafia"?

Etc., etc., etc.

Gotcha! games.

I think some people want to take up all our time with their nitnicking so
that we never get around to organizing the next generation of several
thousand test resisters.

Get back to you later -- much, much, much later -- about some of the other
humorless obsessions vented recently here.

George Schmidt

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