faulker062

I was at the Indiana State Capital today discussing the detrimental affects of taking wages away from the majority of teachers in order to pay to a select few a higher salary. IN House Bill 1004 directs school superintendents to do exactly that. Collegiality, partnerships and morale will be compromised when administrators unilaterally offer higher salaries to a select few. Where will this additional compensation come from? The pockets of the rest of the teaching staff. HB 1004 will destabilize teacher morale and pit teacher against teacher. While I was waiting to talk to a legislator today, I overheard Kokomo Representative Michael Karickhoff, a supporter of the bill, tell three of his constituents how good HB1004 would be. Karickhoff reasoned, "HB1004 will give superintendents the flexibility to hire teachers that are hard to find, for example a chemistry teacher. After all, some teachers are more valuable than others." This kind of thinking by Republicans at the Indiana Gen...

After viewing an art exhibition this evening with my son, we ran into one of his high school friends who just happened to have in tow with her a young visitor from Finland. I found out our visitor is attending a popular suburban high school here in the Midwest. During our discussion the Finnish visitor revealed American high schools “treat their students like 10-year olds.” "You have to ask permission to use the bathroom!" "At my old school we just get up and leave." “Here it's like being in juvenile detention.” In Finland we emphasize creativity and thinking outside the box, and we have no testing like you do here!" There seems to be much ignorance within the body politic responsible for US education policy regarding learning experience and matters of the mind. Then again, perhaps it’s not ignorance at all. Perhaps there is a reason why our schools look like factories, learning is fragmented outside children’s interests and intellectual development is meas...

There is no question. Two bills introduced in committee this week at the Indiana State General Assembly are meant to undo the will of voters. HB1486 authored by Rep. Jeff Thompson and SB1, authored by Senator Travis Holdman, are all about transferring authority of the Indiana Department of Education to the politically appointed body of the Indiana State Board of Education. These bills are about stripping away an elected officials duties and giving them to political appointees. Remember the Center for Education and Career Innovation? Governor Pence has pledged 5 million dollars to create a new shadow agency through the State Board of Education to do the work of Superintendent Ritz's agency. We do not need more bureaucracy nor do we need taxpayer dollars spent on school oversight functions the Department of Education is already doing at no cost to Indiana Taxpayers. Tell your state representatives to oppose HB 1486 and tell your State Senators to oppose SB1.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, twenty percent of children  (actually 21%)  have a mental illness of one sort or another. 20% is a big number! Illnesses like post traumatic stress syndrome, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia are serious conditions that cause functional impairments and cognitive deficits. Question: Is it morally acceptable to push children through curricula and assessments centered around data driven instruction and high stakes standardized tests? I sat through a discussion yesterday at the Indianapolis Marion County public library on standardized testing. Derek Redelman, one of the discussion participants and a pusher of high stakes standardized testing for the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce had nothing to say on this issue. To her credit Dr. Dena Cushenberry Superintendent of Warren Twp. Schools, mentioned we have to be "concerned"and "mindful" but insisted that stud...

Here is the trailer to "Standardized." A dynamic discussion with members of Parent Power, Black and Latino Policy Institute and Education Community Action Team on high stakes standardized testing.

More evidence on negative affects to physiological and psycho-emotional development caused by standardized high stakes testing. In their own words, elementary students Claire and Liam address the Orange County School Board: "We all have to do the same thing at the same time. The kids all learn like that because of tests." "I wanted you to see that I'm a 3rd grader and me and other kids who are going to take the scary tests for the first time in the Spring, and I won't be Claire to them, I'll just be the girl who got a three, or the girl who got a one, or the girl who threw up because she was so nervous. You guys always teach us about standing up to others. Now it's time for you to stand up to the bullies who are using these tests in the wrong way. Can't you do something?" Liam addresses his school board on the standard error of measurement : "When I took the 3rd grade FCAT, I was a wreck. The pressure on our teacher and our school's succ...

H4QE is funded by a lot of deep pockets outside of Indiana. If this group is advocating for quality education for all Hoosier school children, why have they supported candidates and policies responsible for pressuring teachers and administrators to teach to the test  and cut funding to public schools where approximately 90% of children in Indiana are educated and why did they feature the voucherization of public schools under another PAC  name ? Doug Martin has some insight on this group  here.  I smell big money funding this PAC from out of state corporate donors in Kansas, Arkansas and Michigan.