Assemblyman Weprin from New York Speaks Out!

One of No Child Left Behind’s most amazing accomplishments is its ability to ruin perfectly good words. This law has made me, an English teacher and general big fan of the English language, feel hatred for words like “achievement” and “accountability” and “qualified.” Last week, the New York City Education Chancellor, Joel Klein, arranged a media fest in Queens to reward schools that had “achieved” on the city’s new grading system. Not surprisingly, there are many critics of this grading system since it focuses primarily on (dramatic pause) standardized testing.

One critic, Assemblyman from Queens Mark Weprin, had the guts to do something about it. He got the microphone and, rather than playing the “pat ourselves on the back” game, he told it like it is. He took five minutes out of the pomp and circumstance to rail on the folly of No Child Left Behind, causing a chorus of cheers in the back of the room from teachers and parents. He accused the city of allowing its schools to turn into "Stanley Kaplan" and losing their focus on learning. I asked Weprin what prompted him to speak up, and he said, "I have two kids in public school - need I say more?" No, Mark, you needn't.

During Weprin's diatribe, Chancellor Klein grimaced and recovered the microphone as quickly as possible, thus suppressing the opinions of local politicians, parents, and teachers – I mean, what do they know about education?!

Like many misguided NCLB defenders, Klein fell victim to the testing vs. no testing fallacy. This is the one in which NCLB defenders assume that those of us opposed to it oppose testing in all forms. Klein said, “If we don’t do that [test], we aren’t educating our kids.”

In reality, of course, we know that testing is ONE OF MANY indicators of true achievement. Even one of the authors of the law, a former stalwart champion of the common man, Ted Kennedy, admits that the focus on standardized testing was remiss:

“…the law still needs major changes to bring out the best in all children…Its one-size-fits-all approach encourages "teaching to the test" and discourages innovation in the classroom. We need to encourage local decision makers to use a broader array of information, beyond test scores, to determine which schools need small adjustments and which need extensive reforms.”

-Kennedy in the Washington Post

The tides are starting to turn, but it won’t happen without a huge push. I urge you all to follow Assemblyman Weprin’s lead. If you believe something, and find a time to speak your mind but feel it would be rude, or disruptive, or scary, DO IT ANYWAY. In order to change the status quo, we need a unified, unafraid, national movement – do your part to make it happen. Speak up all the time and every time until learning, creativity, and sense are returned to our schools.