Re: Poetry

[Art Burke <aburke@VANSD.ORG>]

Shooting the messenger has been tried,
Excuses said often until they cried.
All or nothing, that's how he sees it,
Says one thing, goes over and over it,
Tests are bad, bad, bad.
So sad, sad, sad.

Art


>>> drdanj@EARTHLINK.NET 11/12/02 06:28AM >>>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Navarro" <jlnhca@yahoo.com>
To: "resisters ca" <ca-resisters@serv1.ncte.org>
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 10:40 PM
Subject: [ca-resisters] Three Poems re: Testing, by Joe Navarro


> THE DIVIDE
>
> The tests were taken
> And the pseudo-experts all had
> A mighty revelation surprise! bing!
> The data showed: the more affluent
> You are, the better educated you are
>
> So now they want to punish
> Low scorers and teachers
> Who teach poor and minority
> Children in a system
> That causes an educational
> Divide reinterpret
> The data condemn critics
> Call them whiners and
> Doomsayers it would
> Be too expensive to
> Educate everyone
>
> Besides, who will the
> Underpaid workers be?
> Test again, punish more
> Delete all references to
> Inequality and social injustice
> Only one test, one mode
> All children equal one
>
> Punish and cut no creativity
> No art, no music,
> No thinking, just memorize
> And know phonics
> That s it reinforce the divide
> Until it s so wide
> That no one will
> Cross to the other side
>
> --Joe Navarro
>
> QUALITY EDUCATION
>
> One, two, three facts
> A-B-C facts
> One phonetically broken word
> After another w-o-r-d
> Again and again
> Until the child s mind sleeps
> Then politicians can
> Phonetically brag from their caves
> That they have achieved quality education
>
> --Joe Navarro
>
> WINDS OF SORROW
>
> Creativity is carelessly thrown
> Into the winds of sorrow
> While children are lulled into
> Semi-consciousness, half-drowned
> In a sea of emptiness
> Standards, you know high stakes standards,
> Not just any standards
>
> With a surgeon s knife, carefully
> Carve open the dome of each child s
> Head so that it opens neatly
> Like a door, and fill it with
> Endless information, disconnected
> Facts, mostly  bore the children
> Until their eyes roll back into their
> Heads, and teach them to take
> Tests, lots of them; develop a
> Curriculum called test taking, forget
> Literature and art, just buy test
> Preparation manuals, but call it
> Reading for a variety of purposes
> And language arts,
> Leave no child behind, drag them all
> Through the misery
>
> Make sure the test is devised
> To the proficiency of affluent
> Families educated parents and
> Reading and writing resources
> At home, then test everyone
> With the same test, even children
> With no or little resources at home
> They can t read when they get
> To kindergarten, they speak
> Spanish, but that s okay
> Test them anyway, in English
>
> As they fail especially the
> Disadvantaged children impose
> A reign of terror that
> Subjects children and teachers to
> A series of torture, public
> Embarrassment, trauma, threats
> And intimidation, then more tests
> Until everyone becomes a trained monkey,
> Dancing for quarters; until they
> Live, breathe and think standards
> And tests and punishment and rewards;
> But make sure that no child
> Is left behind
>
> Think tests and standards
> Dumbing down the curriculum
> Equals quality teaching
> Creativity is threatening
> Life skills are useless in an
> Orwellean world
> Only tests and standards,
> And tests and standards
> By qualified teachers who can
> Demonstrate a lack of creativity,
> Follow directions, teach bubbling and
> Who do not question authority
>
> A semi-literate hypocrite runs
> For President, calling for local
> Control, less government
> But pushes federal legislation
> To end local control
> A capitalist pundit,
> Free enterprise in education
> Run schools like auto factories
> Private industry
> Private schools vouchers
>
> Create tests and standards (for
> Public schools) that
> Students will fail and demand
> Schools without standards or tests
> Until public schools collapse
> In the dizziness of unreasonable,
> Irrational, untiring assaults on
> Public education, piece by piece
> Until learning is reduced to
> Memorization and bubbling
> Pedagogy is replaced by politics
> Teachers become passive vehicles
> Of delivery while non-teachers
> Decide what is taught;
> But leave no child behind
>
> Authentic literature, living in our
> Multicultured world, artistic expression,
> Equality, justice, democracy,
> Fairness, kindness, respect,
> Compassion, inquiry and fun
> Are not standards to
> Be tested decoding, recalling,
> Repeating, reciting and retelling are
> Think about it But
> Leave no child behind,
> Drag them all through the misery
>
> --Joe Navarro
>
> jlnhca@yahoo.com 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.