OPT OUT NEWS: Leading educators back Chicago Opt Out movement
As the Chicago Opt Out movement continues to explode across the city and resonate across the USA, a group of leading educators has issued a national statement in support of the Chicago resisters. In a petition signed by fifty leading educators, the statement says: "Teachers at two public elementary schools in Chicago, Saucedo Scholastic Academy and Drummond Elementary School, have refused to administer the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). By taking this bold action at great personal risk, these teachers are standing up for authentic teaching, learning, and assessment. We believe that these teachers are heroes who are worthy of praise and thanks, not punishment and censure."
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel supported the continued use of the ISAT test in Chicago's public schools despite the fact that the ISAT is being phased out this year and the two week testing window, from March 3 through March 14, disrupts learning for almost all Chicago publlc school children. Rahm's appointed school board and appointed Chief Executive Officer have threatened teachers who have boycotted the ISAT, while local school officials have been bullying families opting out their children. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.LEADING EDUCATORS SUPPORT TEST BOYCOTT
Press Release. Date: March 9, 2014
Contact: Jesse Hagopian, Teacher, 206-962-1685 hagopian.jesse@gmail.com
Brian Jones, Teacher and Doctoral Student, 646-554-8592 brianpjones@yahoo.com
Wayne Au, Professor of Education, 425-352-3797 wayne.wk.au@gmail.com
In a public petition released today, more than fifty educators and researchers, including some of the most well-respected figures in the field of education, pledged support for the boycott of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) by teachers at two elementary schools in Chicago, Saucedo Scholastic Academy and Drummond Elementary School and called on Chicago�s mayor and schools chief to rescind threats of punishment for those who participated in the action.
Among the signers of the statement are former US Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, and activist and educator William Ayers. They compared the teachers� decision to civil rights activism. �Like early participants in the Civil Rights Movement,� they wrote, �the teachers at Saucedo and Drummond who have refused to administer the ISAT have taken an enormous risk for what they believe is right.�
Jesse Hagopian, a high school teacher in Seattle and one of the organizers of a boycott of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test last year, took the lead in gathering signatures to support the Chicago boycott. �I know from experience how frightening it can be to take this kind of action,� Hagopian said, �no one would jeopardize their livelihood unless they believed deeply in what they were doing.� Sarah Chambers, a special education teacher at Saucedo, told Hagopian that parents, students and teachers were standing together on this issue in order to �take back our public schools from the profiteers who are making millions from these tests and test-prep materials.� Chambers added, �This is one step towards reclaiming our public schools and our humanity.�
The ISAT test is not used for student promotion or teacher evaluation. It�s only purpose is to satisfy the state�s accountability requirements for the No Child Left Behind legislation. The signers also noted that hundreds of families at both schools chose to opt their children out of the tests 112 students at Drummond and roughly 450 at Saucedo. Teachers who refused to administer the test conducted lessons with the students who opted out.
Despite the fact that the test is already slated to be discontinued next year, state and city officials have stated that these teachers may lose their jobs and perhaps their teaching licenses.
�Threatening to punish teachers who prefer to teach rather than give standardized tests is not in the best interest of students,� the statement argues. Noting the growing discontent with the over-use of standardized testing, the signatories called the test refusers �teachers of conscience� who are �standing up for authentic teaching, learning, and assessment.� The petition is released in advance of the Chicago Teachers Union�s call for a Day of Action on Monday, March 10 to support the boycotting teachers. The CTU is encouraging members and supporters to wear red, call the Chicago Board of Education directly, and attend a rally that day in Chicago at 4pm.
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PETITION TO MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL & CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS CEO BARBARA BYRD-BENNETT: CELEBRATE CHICAGO�S TEACHERS OF CONSCIENCE, DON�T PUNISH THEM!
Teachers at two public elementary schools in Chicago, Saucedo Scholastic Academy and Drummond Elementary School, have refused to administer the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). By taking this bold action at great personal risk, these teachers are standing up for authentic teaching, learning, and assessment. We believe that these teachers are heroes who are worthy of praise and thanks, not punishment and censure.
The teachers at these schools believe that boycotting this test is in the best interest of their students. Hundreds of parents and students agreed. At Drummond, 112 students out of 178 students refused to take the test. At Saucedo, roughly 450 of 1200 students refused also. For teachers who declined to administer the test, this was not a day off -- they were able to conduct actual lessons with students who opted out. Threatening to punish teachers who prefer to teach rather than give standardized tests is not in the best interest of students.
The ISAT test is being phased out, and will not be given next year. The results from this test will not be used to improve teaching and learning, to determine grades or promotion in Chicago Public Schools. Its only purpose is to satisfy the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. NCLB demands that schools raise test scores every year, pressure from which has led to an abusive over-emphasis on standardized test preparation nationwide.
Like early participants in the Civil Rights Movement, the teachers at Saucedo and Drummond who have refused to administer the ISAT have taken an enormous risk for what they believe is right. And like those early Civil Rights protesters, they are facing intimidation and threats that they may be fired or lose their teaching licenses.
We, the undersigned, call on Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett to stop all threats and punishments directed at the teachers of conscience at Saucedo Scholastic Academy and Drummond Elementary. Signed*:
Curtis Acosta, Founder, Acosta Latino Learning Partnership, Tucson
Wayne Au, Associate Professor of Education, University of Washington, Bothell
William Ayers, Retired, University of Illinois
Bill Bigelow, Curriculum Editor, Rethinking Schools
Stephen Brier, Professor, Ph.D. Program in Urban Education, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Phyllis A. Bush, Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education, Fort Wayne
Alex Caputo-Pearl Teacher, Frida Kahlo High School, Los Angeles
Julie Cavanagh, Teacher, Public School 15, Brooklyn
Sumi Cho, Professor of Law, DePaul University College of Law
Linda Christensen, Rethinking Schools
Anthony Cody, Co-Founder, Network for Public Education
Tammy Oberg De La Garza, Assistant Professor of Language and Literacy, College of Education, Roosevelt University, Chicago
Bertis Downs, Board Member, Network for Public Education
John W. Duffy, Retired, Illinois Education Association
Lisa Edstrom, Barnard Education Program, Barnard College, Columbia University
Stephanie Farmer, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Roosevelt University, Chicago
Judith Gouwens, Professor of Elementary Education, College of Education, Roosevelt University, Chicago
Helen Gym, Asian Americans United/Parents United for Public Education, Rethinking Schools
Jesse Hagopian, Teacher, Garfield High School, Seattle
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters
Nini Hayes, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Julian Vasquez Heilig, Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Planning, University of Texas, Austin
Robin Hiller
Executive Director
Network for Public Education
Brian Jones
PhD Program in Urban Education
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Denisha Jones
Assistant Professor of Education
Howard University Stan Karp
Rethinking Schools
Bill Kennedy
Urban Teacher Education Program
University of Chicago Karen GJ Lewis
National Board Certified Teacher
President
Chicago Teachers Union
Barbara Madeloni
Educators for a Democratic Union
Eleni Makris
Associate Professor
Northeastern Illinois University
Morna McDermott
Associate Professor
Towson University
Deborah Menkart
Executive Director
Teaching for Change
Nicholas M. Michelli
Presidential Professor
Ph.D. Program in Urban Education
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Mark B. Miller
School Board Director
Centennial School District
Pennsylvania School Boards Association
Isabel Nuñez
Associate Professor
Concordia University Chicago
Dani O'Brien
College of Education
University of Massachusetts, Amherst Bob Peterson
President
Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association
Anthony Picciano
Executive Officer
PhD Program in Urban Education
City University of New York - Graduate Center
Bree Picower
New York Collective of Radical Educators
Amira Proweller
Associate Professor
DePaul University, College of Education
Diane Ravitch
Research Professor of Education
New York University
Mary Cathryn D. Ricker
National Board Certified Teacher
President
Saint Paul Federation of Teachers, Local 28
Karyn Sandlos
Assistant Professor of Art Education
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Mara Sapon-Shevin
Professor of Inclusive Education
Syracuse University Nancy Schniedewind
Professor
State University of New York, New Paltz
Tim Slekar
Dean
School of Education
Edgewood College, Madison
Simeon Stumme
Associate Professor
Center for Policy Studies and Social Justice
Concordia University, Chicago
Daiyu Suzuki
Doctoral Student
Teachers College, Columbia University
Peter M. Taubman
Professor Brooklyn College
Dora Taylor
President
Parents Across America
Angela Valenzuela
Professor
University of Texas, Austin
Lois Weiner
Professor
New Jersey City University
Randi Weingarten
President
American Federation of Teachers
Barbara Winslow
School of Education
Brooklyn College
*organizations are listed for identification purposes only
