Press Release-- Walk Against WASL

[Jedoyon@aol.com]

PRESS RELEASE 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
Date: March 9, 2006 

Parent Empowerment Network  organizes 5th Annual WALK AGAINST WASL 
Contacts: Juanita Doyon,  Director, Mothers Against WASL, Spanaway, 
253/973-1593 
Rachel DeBellis, Executive Board  Member, Marysville,  360/708-9323
Lisa Sampson, Executive Board Member, Vancouver, 360/608-4896   
Shelley Anderson, Area  Coordinator, Spokane, 509/326-9295 

Parent Empowerment Network/Mothers Against  WASL will hold its 5th Annual, 
Mothers and Others Walk Against WASL,  Monday, March 13th, in Olympia. 
Protesters will meet on the steps  of the Capitol at 10:30 am and march to the Office 
of  Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
“WASL has had its  chance to abuse our students, teachers and schools for too 
long. It has taken  the profession out of teaching, drained the joy out of 
learning, and sapped  hundreds of millions of our precious education dollars. It 
has done all of this  without ever having been proven valid or reliable by 
anyone independent of its  creators,” said Juanita Doyon, director of Parent 
Empowerment Network. “Despite  much debate, the legislature has failed to pass 
legislation that will save this  year’s 10th graders from being guinea pigs for 
this graduation  requirement folly. Even the bill approving WASL alternatives 
demeans students,  who must fail the WASL twice before being offered an 
alternative assessment.  These alternatives still fail to meet the needs of students 
with learning  disabilities and students who are not proficient English  
speakers.” 
Main  concerns: 
Discrimination—WASL pass rates are  much lower for low income, minority, and 
special needs students.  This alone poses a great risk for these  students, as 
WASL becomes a graduation requirement. Without the guarantee of  statewide, 
uniform services to students in all grades, a statewide uniform  achievement 
bar (WASL) is morally and legally  indefensible. 
Inappropriate and  subjective testing—WASL has been proven  to be 
inappropriate to grade level.  The test requires a state-mandated thought process and 
tests how students  think rather than what they know. 
Cost—WASL costs $72 per  student to administer. Iowa Test of Basic Skills 
costs  $2.99. 
Use of WASL for class  placement and graduation—No one test should  determine 
a student’s future.  WASL  scores are currently used to determine placement 
in remedial classes, denying  students the opportunity to pursue enrichment 
subjects such as art and  music.  This year’s 10th  graders are currently 
required to pass the WASL in order to receive their high  school diploma.  
Use of WASL to  determine curricula—Because WASL is being  used to determine 
school and student success and failure, districts are adopting  curricula to 
align with WASL requirements. This is not an appropriate  educational practice. 
Curricula should be adopted to align with student and  community needs, not 
the narrow goal of test passage. 
Parent Empowerment Network  (PEN) is a nonprofit organization. The mission of 
PEN is to provide education and peer  training to parents, teachers, and 
community members at-large, in developing  strategies to promote sound policy for 
quality public schools.