I attended a forum on public education called "What's at Stake?" Here is a link to media coverage: http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/Forum-for-education-discusses-what-is-at-stake/-/132502/11921286/-/fr6ygt/-/index.html The purpose of this forum was to inform parents about how budget cuts, unfunded mandates, and high stakes testing have impacted our children's education, and what we can do about it. Unfortunately, the topic of high stakes testing was never addressed, but the organizers are planning to hold another forum to discuss this important issue. The panel included superintendents from local school districts, including Allentown, and Susan Gobreski, the Executive Director of Education Voters PA. She did a good job informing parents about flaws in the funding formula for education, and told us that $900 million was cut from this year's education budget, and there are plans for another $860 million to be cut.
Other than his opening statement, ASD Superintendent Dr. Russ Mayo did not contribute much of anything else to the 2 hour conversation, even when the panel was discussing how urban districts have been disproportionately hit by budget cuts. Concerned parents from Allentown who attended are wondering... why so quiet, Dr. Mayo? Even when the moderator asked him for his thoughts, he declined to speak. I wanted to jump in myself to help him out, but audience questions were only limited to 5 minutes at the end, and no "debate" allowed. If this is how Dr. Mayo fights for our kids, then he should be fired immediately. Not a very rigorous or resilient performance by our CEO. Maybe he was distracted by the recent shake up in ASD administration. There seems to be a lot of instability in our district right now. But I was surprised that in Mayo's opening statement he said that "it's a people business" and it's "not just about measuring test scores." This is the opposite of what he told me at the parent meeting at Muhlenberg, when he said "don't treasure what you can't measure." Is he just telling parents what they want to hear? His words don't jibe with his actions. If he really cared, he would find a way to restore our arts programs, and ditch the corporate reform model.
Two parents from the ASD spoke at the forum. Betsy Ragan and Ed White did a great job, but should have been given more time. Betsy mentioned the cuts to art, music, PE and library at the elementary schools. Thank you Betsy! And Ed discussed the importance of staying informed and voting for pro-public education candidates. Voting, writing letters to legislators, meeting with legislators, house parties, talking, blogging, all of these things will help, but I think much more drastic action is needed. Massive grassroots protests should be organized across the state. Parents should opt their children out of testing. It's way past time to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! But this is highly unlikely because in the ASD most parents are reluctant to get involved. And I believe the ASD needs a strong leader who is not afraid to fight for equal opportunities for our children- someone who is not afraid to stand for what's right by CHILDREN, instead of fighting for whatever measly crumbs crooked Corbett and his cronies throw out to districts that serve mostly poor children.
4 comments:
Thank you for bringing parent resistance and opposition to excessive high stakes assessment out of the shadows. Glad to hear the parents are informed and getting more informed.
On the topic of Dr. Mayo. He's in a tough spot. Between state level budget cuts and the demands of RT3, he has little control over matters. He has an unfunded mandate on his hands. HOWEVER, there are Superintendents in Texas and a couple here in Florida, that are speaking out. He has a tough decision to make.
Angie, One day we'll redefine education, not reform it to fit corpocractic needs.
When this happens, will superintendents like Mayo claim Superior Orders when an angered populace put him on trial for child abuse?
You're letting him know right now he has a choice, and the Nuremberg Defense will not work.
Sandra, I realize Mayo is in a tough spot, but the other supers, who were all from wealthy suburban districts, encouraged parents to speak out and take action. One even said that parents must say "enough is enough." At a parent meeting at my son's school, my husband asked Mayo, "what can we do to restore funding, should we write letters to the governor? And he replied "don't tell him I sent you." He's not strongly advocating for our children, who have had their curriculum narrowed down to reading and math test prep. He should demand equality of opportunity for our kids, and find creative ways to fund the programs we need. That's why he, and other administrators get paid 6 figure salaries. He has started to shake things up in administration, and that's a good thing. But there needs to be more cuts in that area, and also, I want him to address the cost of all the testing, and what percentage of the budget goes to testing and test related activities, supplies. He was asked that question at the end of the forum, but had no answer. There always seems to be money for useless testing.
Our PTA was able to find creative ways to fund art club, and artist in residencies, and performing arts, in order to give our children some arts enrichment. We are doing our part. We are keeping our kids in the district and getting involved to save our neighborhood schools. He's cutting programs.
HM, it's way past time for that day to come when we return to giving teachers the autonomy they need in order to meet the needs of all kids, with a developmentally appropriate and well rounded curriculum. I can't be nice about this anymore,or just look the other way, he needs to take a stronger position and do what's right by our children. Too much damage has already been done by 10 years of experimental testing and standards aligned nonsense and data driven BS.
Terrific post Angie, mea culpa I'm late on reading it. As I've said before, Dr. Russ Mayonnaise is the go-along-to-get-along pepto bismol after the acid reflux of Mayo's predecessor Dr. Gerald Zahor-upchuck. Mayo's a useless empty suit.
BTW, "Doctor" Mayo never responded to my polite outreach to him to give me his thoughts (in writing) on Reinvesting in Arts Education by the end March. Time to commence my follow-up outreaches ...
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