I sent the following letter to The Houston Chronicle this evening. I have not sent them anything in quite a while, and seem to bat around 500 on getting in. Whether or not this one gets printed, I wanted to vent somewhere!
According to Saturday evening TV news, some Ft. Bend area teachers in route to TExES tests (standardized exams required for Texas teacher certification) in Ft. Bend County were delayed in getting there this morning by a wreck on the freeway, which is already under construction. If you have driven this route, you can imagine that they were blocked by barracades as well as other cars. Fittingly their destination was George Bush High School. When they arrived, some were only one minute late. They were locked out. Officials said rules are rules and no excuses for lateness were accepted. Some of the teachers were in tears, because their jobs were on the line. Surely there will be some leeway granted by these educators' employers, but why put TEACHERS AND KIDS thought the terrible stress that is synonymous with standardized testing today? Who benefits?
Who benefits? Follow the money trail...to the companies that make the tests, to the politicians they pay off, wine and dine.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, part of America is waking up to the walking disaster that is our current presidential and state administration.
Miguel
I wonder if one of these folks who made the decision to lock out the teachers, had a child who was one minute late to class because of a wreck and construction and was locked out of a test in school. Would they call the school and be politely supportive of their policy? Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteEvidently the C in NCLB does not stand for Courtesy or Compassion. I hope your letter gets printed.
Hey Miguel, I met you last year at TCEA. We were manning the little SIG tables. Yes, you are so right about who benefits. Have you by chance noticed that the money trail leads, among other places, to Ignite Software? This conflict of interest just never seems to get very much attention, but it bothers me plenty. And Dee, you are so right. Like I said, I give the letter a 50/50 chance at best for getting printed. But hey! I said it here anyway!
ReplyDelete