Fwd: snafu, support for Carl, posts of the day.

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

  From: "dperl" <dperl@myexcel.com>

  Date: Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:22:19 AM US/Pacific

  To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>

  Cc: <ctchew@earthlink.net>

  Subject: snafu, support for Carl, posts of the day.

  Dear Colleagues:

  First of all, please no worries if, in the past you have received unopenable
  attachments from revolutionary headquarters.  Any and all important messages
  you will see in the body of my communiqués.  Technology is sometimes a bit of
  a mystery.

  And before I forget, and in keeping with Carl Chew's leadership and statement
  of what is best in our profession, remember the in your face campaign where
  teachers are telling administrators to sign a letter which acknowledges that
  these administrators are requiring teachers to violate the code of their
  teaching certificate.  We have a letter on file.  See this link for details: 
  0000,6666,0000http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=7967Arial 

  But now to Carl Chew, who stands for the best in our profession as he has
  thoughtfully, morally and courageously refused to administer the WASL.

  Here are some updates, wise words from Carl and from his daughter, an
  interview, an article, and a letter of support (in no particular order.)

  To All of You Who Are Sending Me Warm Wishes:

  Thank you so much! 

  When I first decided to refuse giving the WASL my 14 year-old daughter spoke
  to me.  "Yay, my revolutionary papa!  But remember, no one should try to do
  something like this in a vacuum.  Rosa Parks did not just sit on that bus by
  herself.  She had hundreds if not thousands of people backing her up and
  giving her courage.  Go out and let people know what you are doing so you
  don't feel alone." 

  Just another example of what I experience everyday as a teacher--we have got
  to listen to our children.

  Many of you have offered to contribute to my lost wages.  What an amazing
  gesture, and one I did not even expect.  I appreciate your generosity
  immensely.  What I would like you to do instead is pledge that offering to an
  organization in your area that is fighting this testing nonsense.  Every
  little bit we do to pull together brings this sad chapter of draconian
  education to a closer end.

  Part of being civilly disobedient is accepting the consequences gracefully. 
  Of course I would rather be in my classroom with my fabulous students, but I
  was prepared to go as far down the consequence road as the school district
  and state office of public instruction wanted to travel.  I think in many
  respects that helped us be victorious in this.  When the folks who have a
  great need to be in control see someone stand up and not flinch or get angry,
  they simply do not know what to do.

  Yours,

  Carl Chew

  ctchew@earthlink.net

  http://ctchew.com

  ---------------------

  http://www.kirotv.com/video/15950690/index.html EXTENDED INTERVIEW: Teacher
  Explains Why He Wouldn't Give WASL

  -----------------------

  Chew on This

  Posted April 21, 2008 | 01:53 PM (EST)

  Huffington Post

  Gerald Bracey
  One seldom hears about The Nuremberg Precedent in education except in history
  class discussions of the post-World War II trials of Nazis. Some Nazi leaders
  said they could not have known the consequences of their policies and orders
  and others said they were just following orders. Their judges said "that's
  not good enough."

  The body count from No Child Left Behind grows daily and one wonders when the
  perpetrators will be called to account. In a decent nation, the larger
  society holds the government accountable. In a program like NCLB, the
  government holds the citizenry accountable.

  Now comes Carl Chew, a 6th grade science teacher in Seattle who has decided
  to say "enough." That last sentence might at some point be altered to read
  "former 6th grade science teacher." On April 15, Mr. Chew refused to
  administer the WASL, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, which
  serves to satisfy the NCLB testing requirements.

  Administrators tried to dissuade Mr. Chew from his act of civil disobedience,
  then escorted him from the school. Three days later, Superintendent Maria
  Goodloe-Johnson sent Mr. Chew a letter that began, "This letter is to inform
  you that I have determined that there is probably cause to suspend you from
  April 21, 2008 through May 2, 2008 without pay for your refusal and
  insubordination to your principal's written direction to administer the WASL
  at Eckstein Middle School." What happens May 5 is not clear (May 3 is a
  Saturday).

  In writing to explain his action, Mr. Chew expressed his love for teaching,
  for his students and for his fellow teachers, and expressed sorrow that his
  act had cause pain for some people, but added "I could no longer stand idly
  by as something as wrong as WASL is perpetrated on our children year after
  year."

  This indictment was not a general statement or an impetuous one. It was
  followed by a list of 24 thoughtful reasons why WASL is bad for kids,
  parents, teachers, and schools and nine reasons why it is "just bad." One can
  only imagine that the perpetrators of WASL -- and its many look-alikes, like
  the Nazis at Nuremberg, knew what the consequences of their policies and
  actions would be. A few examples:

  Bad for kids: "There is no middle ground -- children either pass or fail
  which leaves them confused, guilty, and frustrated". (This is one of the
  grand absurdities of NCLB--you're either proficient or left behind. Learning
  doesn't occur in such either/or dichotomies. It occurs in continua, and in
  all likelihood, multidimensional continua; Chew later observes that many
  students who were simply told that they had failed were, in fact, very close
  to the passing score and that many of these children cried on receiving the
  results).

  Bad for teachers: "A majority of teachers loath the WASL, but feel unable to
  speak out freely against it due to their fears of negative consequences for
  doing so" (many, many examples show that these fears are real; they are they
  are reinforced in many cases by principals' contracts which mandate specific
  increases in test scores each year as a condition of employment).

  Bad for parents: "Most parents are misled by official statements about what
  the purpose of the WASL is" (it is the academic equivalent of saying we're
  going to war in Iraq to rid the country of weapons of mass destruction).

  Bad for schools: Washington State will spend $56 million in 2009 just to have
  the damn things graded by a private corporation.

  I can only hope that people will one day look back on high-stakes testing the
  way they now look back at slavery -- in disgust and a with sense of horrified
  wonder: what were they thinking? To mix metaphors, you don't build a house
  with a wrecking ball.

  ---------------

  Here is a letter from our coalition to the President of the Seattle Education
  Association with copies sent to the Superintendent of Schools in the State,
  Teresa Bergeson, and Superintendent of Schools in Seattle, Maria
  Goodloe-Johnson, PhD.

  April 22, 2008

  Wendy Kimball, President

  Seattle Education Association

  5501 4th Avenue S.

  Seattle, Washington 98108

  Dear Wendy Kimball:

  Our Coalition for Better Education, Inc. in our mission to value the autonomy
  of our children and of their teachers, supports wholeheartedly the principled
  and thoughtful stance of your member, Carl Chew, who has spoken out for the
  best in our profession by refusing to administer the WASL. Mr. Chew is truly
  implementing your own mission statement by being a voice for
  "professionalism, equity and integrity in public education." We are at your
  service if we can be of any assistance in your endeavors to support this
  member of yours, of whom you must be most proud.

  Sincerely,

  Don Perl,

  President,

  The Coalition for Better Education, Inc.

  2424 22nd Avenue

  Greeley, Colorado 80631

  ----------------------

  Here are some other critical posts of the day.

  Students will get high school diplomas only if they pass state tests, says
  board

  Betsy Hammond

  The Oregonian

  2008-04-19

  http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=7968

  Beginning with next year's high school freshmen, Oregon plans to require
  students to pass state reading, writing and math tests to get a high school
  diploma.

  -----------------------

  Texas educators split over teaching English basics

   Gary Scharrer

  Houston Chronicle

  2008-04-20

  http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=7967

  Things heat up in Texas over teaching grammar. Ohanian has a modest proposal.

  --------------------------

  Diploma Plan Stirs Concerns In Md.

  Nelson Hernandez

  Washington Post

  2008-04-21

  http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=7966

  The real problem here is the corporate-political declaration that teachers'
  grades aren't worth dog pooh.  

  ----------------------

  Seattle Teacher Refuses to Administer WASL Test to Students, citing muliple
  Harms Test Causes Students, Teachers, Schools, and Parents

  Parent Empowerment Network

  Press Release

  2008-04-20

  http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.html?id=366

  Read Carl Chew's full statement of why he refused to give the WASL.

  -------------------

  And a Teacher Shall Lead Them

  Carl Chew

  Seattle Teacher

  0000-00-00

  http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.html?id=365

  Carl Chew in Seattle stands tall. . . and triumphs.

  -------------------

  Why would anyone trust WaMu's disgraced CEO on education issues?

  David Marshak

  Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  2008-04-18

  http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.html?id=3374

  The industrial model of schooling is an approach to schooling that ignores 80
  years of scientific discovery about human development, about enormous
  variations within any human population, about how and why learning takes
  place and about children's and teens' interests and passions.

  In solidarity,

  Don

  www.thecbe.org

  www.susanohanian.org

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