The PJSTA has been ahead of the curve regarding the testing issue, as is evident by the fact that every PJSTA member was given a PJSTA shirt in April with the message, ” Our students are worth more than a test score”. It’s gratifying to see that the “stop the testing” work Rella and I have been doing is starting to not only get noticed but also develop a strong following. The PJSTA message has been clear and consistent for quite some time now:
1) BOYCOTT Newsday because they do NOT report the truth.
2) FIRE KING because he supports the privatization of Public Education by allowing NYS testing to be created and graded by Pearson, while King’s own children are exempt from the same Pearson testing that King imposes on all the other children in NYS.
3) STOP THE TESTING and THE COMMON CORE because the only purpose they serve is to harass students. Classroom teachers can and do create adequate testing for the students in NYS, We don’t need Pearson to create tests for our students.
4) GET RID OF THE APPR because Superintendents like Joe Rella don’t need NYSED to insinuate themselves into the workings of their School Districts. They already have evaluation procedures in place that work!
5) FUND LI SCHOOLS appropriately based on the taxes that are taken from Long Islanders. If LI was a State our students would rank number 1 in the country!
6) DEMAND that NYS policy makers allow School Districts to create budgets without unfunded crippling mandates.
7) VOTE for those policy makers that support students, teachers and public education, like Steve Engelbright.
8) Vote AGAINST Cuomo, Flanagan and LaValle because they do NOT support students, teachers and public education.
9) SUPPORT NYSUT PRESIDENT DICK IANNUZZI because he stands in support of teachers, students and public education. The PJSTA would like to thank President Iannuzzi for choosing the PJSTA to be a participant in NYSUT’s LAP Program,
Just a reminder, not that you should need it, that tomorrow is the “Students, Not Scores!” rally that grew out of Dr. Rella’s letters following the release of the NYS Common Core test scores. The rally begins at 12:00 and is at Comsewogue High School. There is an enormous crowd expected, so carpool, arrive early, and park wherever you can. Speaking will be Dr. Rella, PJSTA President Beth Dimino, NYSUT President Dick Ianuzzi, and several others. New York State Assemblymen Steven Englebright and Al Graf will be there in support. Kudos to politicians willing to put their neck on the line to stand up for what’s right. Be sure to thank them and to vote for them if you live in their district. Not all politicians have the guts to do what they are doing (I am looking at you John J. Flanagan and Ken LaValle!)
Spend some time to make some signs tonight for tomorrow’s rally. Be creative. Have fun. I know of at least one group of PJSTA members having a sign making party tonight. If you want in let us know in the comments or email Beth Dimino.
Be sure to wear your PJSTA garb tomorrow (or BAT apparel if you are cool enough to own any!)
There is not much more to be said. Tomorrow has been a long time coming. The general public is finally catching on to what teachers have known for several years now. To quote Karen Lewis, who seemed to speak for all of us during the CTU strike last year, “We’re tired of being bullied, belittled, and betrayed. We have done everything asked of us, yet we continue to be vilified and treated with disrespect.” Tomorrow’s your chance to fight back. I know I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
Some new links of note:
Students Not Scores! now has a website! Click here to view it and sign the petition.
Port Jefferson School District Superintendent, Dr. Ken Bossert weighs in on test scores here. Feel free to set the commenters straight.
The UFT’s MORE Caucus has been a tremendous help in getting the word out about this rally. Please visit their site. They stand for everything that is right in education and we would all benefit if they were at the helm of the country’s largest teachers union.
Yesterday Diane Ravitch called for the resignation of New York State’s Education Commissioner John King. Assemblyman Steve Englebright agreed. Ravitch encouraged us to contact the New York State Board of Regents and encourage them to call for King’s resignation. On Long Island our representative is Regent Tilles. The chancellor of the board is Merryl Tisch. Yesterday I emailed Tisch and Cc’d Tisch. Below is my letter, followed by Tilles’ response.
Dear Regent Tilles,
I write to you today as a deeply concerned citizen, parent, and educator. Under the guidance of Commissioner John King the quality of education in New York State has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. As currently constituted, public education does a great disservice to the development of our children and has the ability to deeply scar an entire generation of students, putting the future of our state in grave danger. This obviously is not something that should be taken lightly and is a matter that requires immediate attention.
As a veteran educator who proctored two of New York State’s Common Core assessments this year, I was mortified by what I saw. Not only the inappropriate and misleading context of the exams, but the emotional impact on my students. What’s worse is that my experience was typical of the myriad of colleagues who I discussed this with.
As the father of a daughter who is not yet of school age, I am truly petrified of what I will be sending her to when she is ready for kindergarten. As a public educator it breaks my heart to say that. Our children are truly the most important parts of our lives. I am sure you can understand my sentiment.
Although I have Cc’d Regent Tisch on this email, I know that she is a lost cause. She has proved time and again that she is there solely to cater to corporations and individuals who seek to destroy public education. Unfortunately career educators such as myself do not have the financial wherewithal to bend her ear. So I am appealing to you, as you are my representative. Please, before it is too late, do everything in your power to fire Commissioner John King and do all that you can to help save public education.
Tilles’ response…
Thank you for your input. I have read several like letters.while most know where I stand on the issues involved I don’t believe the Regents are ready to take the action requested. Working with our LI legislators we need to come up to a satisfactory solution to the concerns raised.
Our friend Diane Ravitch today called for the resignation of New York State Education Commissioner John King. Citing the harm King has done to children and educators, Ravitch is calling on all concerned parents, educators, and citizens of New York State to contact the New York State Board of Regents to demand the resignation of John King. Regent Roger Tilles represents Long Island. Merryl Tisch is the chancellor at large. Tell them how you feel about the harm done to your students, your own children, and your profession.
We were
fortunate enough to grab a few thoughts from Dr. Rella on his
recent celebrity, his interaction with our elected officials,
mainstream media’s creative filtering, and most importantly, what
we can do to continue to stand up for public education.
Dr. Rella
PJSTA: You obviously
couldn’t have imagined that your letter to elected officials would
go viral as it did. When you sat down to write it what were
you hoping to be able to accomplish?
RELLA: Last Thursday, I wrote a letter to each of our state
legislators in light of the release of the test
scores. I also wrote a letter to our parents in
anticipation of the avalanche of negative press and press releases
from the State – lots of spin and magical thinking. I
posted them on our district
website Thursday evening. On a normal weekend
in early August, it would get about 30
hits. By Friday morning I was getting emails
from all over Long Island, California, Louisiana, Indonesia,
etc. Apparently, my words have found resonance beyond
Comsewogue.
PJSTA: What has surprised
you most about the response to the letter?
RELLA:There’s
one common theme. It was expressed best by a
teacher:
I am an elementary teacher in the Plainview
School District for almost 30 years. I cried when I read your
letter. It was such a relief to read that someone influential (like
yourself) in a school district gets it!
Thanks for being so “right-on” in your
appraisal of the current testing situation and for speaking so
eloquently for me.
Most appreciatively,
I cried when I read her
email!
PJSTA: When did you realize
that it was going to be a rallying point for groups who support
public education?
RELLA:By the
weekend people from around the Island – more
correctly, teachers, from around the Island
–were emailing and calling. Teachers who have
set up major blogs, etc.
PJSTA: Which elected
officials did you write to?
RELLA:Our three
local legislators, Senators LaValle and Flanagan
and Assemblyman Englebright.
PJSTA: Have they all
responded to you? If so, what have their responses
been?
RELLA:I spoke
with all three. They understood my
points.
PJSTA: When you say they
understand your point, are they in agreement with you? Did
they express to you whether or not they are supportive of the
Common Core and it’s implementation or is it something that they
oppose?
RELLA:Let
me phrase it this way. Steve Engelbright said that
he supports the views I expressed in my letter. He
said he would be proud to stand next to me in the “public square”
and do just that. He’s coming on
Saturday. I’m proud to know him.
PJSTA: Why should people
attend Saturday’s rally?
RELLA: The Common Core implementation and testing is hurting
children. We need to stop it now. We need to
fix it now. If it can’t be fixed – we need to SCRAP
IT! STOP IT – FIX IT – or SCRAP
IT!
PJSTA: What would make the
rally a success in your eyes?
RELLA:We’re
going to need hundreds of thousands of emails, tweets, etc. to get
to the Governor, Commissioner, Regents, and the legislature.
The rally last June had over 10,000 people – it didn’t get a single
word of coverage down here. The traditional media is
OUT. The power of social media is the way we will communicate
with those hundreds of thousands. In fact, that’s why I’m
doing this here, on the PJSTA blog.
Channel 12’s editorial director was looking to
speak with me. They’re done. The filtering is too much
for me. Last Sunday’s NEWSDAY had a
two sentence quote from my letter. Given the tone of the
article, it looked like I was saying: “I can’t understand why so
many of our kids failed.” I can perfectly understand
it. The Commissioner told us last fall that it would happen,
he designed a test to make it happen, and then it happened.
I’m done with them.
PJSTA: What can people do
after the rally? What is the next step?
RELLA:Contact
that group above – weekly! An email or a tweet is no big
deal. We’ll probably have a “day” to do it en masse.
Numbers matter. The first question I was asked by one of our
legislators was: “How many emails did you
get?” With apologies to Will Shakespeare: They have
taught us well but we “will better the
instruction.”
PJSTA: Have you now
eclipsed Clinton Kelly as the most famous
person from Comsewogue?
RELLA: LOL.
PJSTA: Any final words or
thoughts?
RELLA:WE (ALL of
us collectively) ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN GET THIS
DONE. Up until now, no group has gotten it done – NOT
the educational leadership – schoolboards, superintendents,
administrators – NOT the unions – NYSUT, UFT, AFT, NOT the
parents. NOT our State representatives. ONLY
COLLECTIVELY DO WE HAVE A SHOT AT DOING THIS. Also, keep
in mind that none of the rhetoric used in the past has
worked. Time to try something
different
No one is going to help
us – EXCEPT ALL OF US TOGETHER
Thanks again to Dr. Rella for taking time out of his busy schedule
to provide us with his thoughts. We are looking forward to
throngs of people at Saturday’s rally. Just a reminder it
will be at Comsewogue High School at 12:00 pm.
For more information on the rally you can follow Students Not
Scores on Twitter or use the hashtag #studentsnotscores.
The Offical Website of the PJSTA 
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