Re: [arn-l

[aburke5054@aol.com]

I admit that I'm stuck on the "equality thing."  But I think I'm in 
pretty good company.  Remember someone named Martin Luther King who was 
also stuck on the "equality thing?"

You say that teachers are SILENT about NCLB? (Does being silent in caps 
make them more silent than in small letters?)  A teacher's union has 
gone into court trying to block NCLB, they're pushing anti-NCLB 
propaganda all over the place, and they're probably lobbying Congress 
full speed ahead.  That does not strike me as being silent at all.

You see an educational landscape that is fantastically depressing and 
terminally dysfunctional.  You want to blame NCLB for every kid who 
can't pass a test or you want to claim that teachers are silent because 
they're being intimidated by "green" principals, more power to you.  
Maybe the world looks so depressing because you're depressed.   You 
might want to think about that.  Having worked for public schools in 
three states, and having three children in school now and three more 
who finished, I have seen a great deal of schools, teachers, and 
students for myself.  I don't share your vision that NCLB is the 
problem at all.  Lots of luck trying to convince people to abandon 
Martin on the march towards equality and to join you and FairTest and 
the Educator Roundtable in stumbling towards anti-NCLB lala land.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: monicalucido@comcast.net
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Sent: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 8:21 am
Subject: [arn-l]


Art,
You totally missed my point, as expected. I was trying to point out 
that the
truth about how students and teachers really feel as they experience 
the reality
of NCLB is SILENT. With the Vick case and Iraq, one can see the pain 
and
devastation. With school related issues, real emotional experiences are 
often
ignored. I have seen the sadness in my students eyes before the STAR in 
CA, I
have spoken with high schoolers who are on their third try of the CA 
exit exam
and are worn out and hating school after hours upon hours of "pull out" 
test
prep, and I have felt the anguish of an instructor who is powerless to 
help
those who do suffer from this law.  Teachers don't just have the power 
to tell
their principals to "stop" when they are being evaluated by the abuser 
and their
livelihood is on the line. Many are bullied and pulled out of 
classrooms to be
yelled at and led by administrators who are often "green" and have not
experienced the classroom. You are not in touch with what is
really
 going on. We must address our lawmakers because it is that law that 
allows
these things to continue. I don't see myself as intellectually immature 
at all.
I relate emotion to this picture because it is real. You are so stuck 
on the
whole equality thing that you are unwilling to look for other solutions 
that
also can drive improvements in school equality and also differentiate
instruction for each human being. Alas, if I did not open myself up for 
comments
from both sides of this issue, I wouldn't be real. Thanks for your 
response.

Joe






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