I received the note below from a former
student who is now a teacher. For obvious reasons, I won't identify her
or where she teaches, but--shockingly--her story is becoming all too
common...
"We had a union meeting yesterday where they warned us that the governor is going after the certificates of teachers that opted out their kids (of the state tests). The governor says it breaks our contract agreeing to protect and follow educational laws. Is this legal? Teachers are being targeted and warned to be extremely careful, especially on public media. I was just curious on your thoughts."
This theme of administrators and elected officials threatening teachers if they speak out publicly against tests, the Common Core State Standards, or other education policies seems to be growing stronger and louder recently, with reports of similar stories popping up in New Mexico (http://dianeravitch.net/2015/04/19/audrey-beardsley-the-silencing-of-the-educators-a-dangerous-trend/), Louisiana (http://www.westernjournalism.com/teachers-district-facing-retribution-criticizing-common-core/), New York (http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/city-teacher-lost-fellowship-revealing-administration-fudged-regents-exam-court-papers-article-1.1990734), Arizona (http://www.azcentral.com/story/ejmontini/2015/03/27/legislature-arizona-school-board-association-sb-1172-free-speech-elections/70556134/), Missouri (http://www.stevenlin83.com/teachersfreepress/this-is-why-teachers-need-tenure-missouri-teacher-suspended-for-speaking-out/), and Michigan (http://stopcommoncoreinmichigan.com/2014/03/teachers-silenced/).
In Rochester, NY,
"An email sent from a high-level Rochester City School District official to principals is
Chief of Schools Beverly Burrell-Moore sent
"Per your building, please identify teachers who have sent letters or made phone calls to parents
encouraging them to opt out their children from the NYS Assessments.
Also, identify teachers who you have evidence as utilizing their
classrooms as 'political soap boxes.' I need this updated information no later than Tuesday morning for follow-up," the email states. (http://www.rochesterhomepage.net/story/d/story/rcsd-official-give-me-names-of-teachers-encouragin/69585/t4V1RVAqHk-lhmvN3pcetA)
Audrey Amrein Beardsley, a professor of
education at Arizona State University, and the author of one of my
favorite education blogs on the web, VAMBOOZLED, reports: "New Mexico now requires teachers to sign a contractual document that
they are not to 'diminish the significance or importance of the tests”
or they could lose their jobs. Teachers are not to speak negatively
about the tests or say anything negatively about these tests in their
classrooms or in public; if they do they could be found in violation of
their contracts.' Beardsley wonders about the legality, and even the
constitutionality of this sort of action: 'As per a related announcement
released by the ASBA, this “could have a chilling effect on the free
speech rights of school and district officials' throughout the state but
also (likely) beyond if this continues to catch on. School officials
may be held 'liable for a $5,000 civil fine just for sharing information
on the positive or negative impacts of proposed legislation to parents
or reporters.'”
While there is no doubt that these moves are indeed a "chilling" development in the education "reform" movement, I believe that they also reveal a quickly growing sense of fear and confusion among those in the reform community regarding the viability of their agenda. Indeed, the surprising strength of the "Opt Out" movement in New York, where as many as 200,000 students have reportedly refused to sit for the state's tests, has led to calls demanding the resignation of Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the NYS Board of Regents.
While there is no doubt that these moves are indeed a "chilling" development in the education "reform" movement, I believe that they also reveal a quickly growing sense of fear and confusion among those in the reform community regarding the viability of their agenda. Indeed, the surprising strength of the "Opt Out" movement in New York, where as many as 200,000 students have reportedly refused to sit for the state's tests, has led to calls demanding the resignation of Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the NYS Board of Regents.
If there is a silver lining to these threats
it may be the impending crumbling of the reform agenda under the
increased scrutiny from the public, the media and teachers. For far too
long, policy "leaders" like Chancellor Tisch, Governors Cuomo, Kasich
and Snyder, and Sec. of Education Duncan have responded to criticism of
their agenda with either deafening silence or dismissive pandering, such
as accusations that "painted parents as confused patsies of a labor action." Now,
these feeble rejoinders are being exposed for what they have been all
along: weak and arrogant responses to the legitimate demands for
accountability from those so negatively impacted by these destructive
policies.
These "leaders" are clearly scared, and they
have every right to be. Now is the time to step up the pressure, and
not let our voices be silenced. We are fighting for our students, our
colleagues and our profession.
Let students learn, let teachers teach, and get the politicians out of education.
 |
| Mitchell Robinson |
Mitchell Robinson is associate professor and chair of music education, and coordinator of the music student teaching program at
Michigan State University. Robinson has held previous appointments as
assistant professor and coordinator of the music education area at the
University of Connecticut; assistant professor of school and community
music education at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.; and
director of wind activities and wind ensemble conductor at the
University of Rochester. Robinson’s public school teaching experience
includes 10 years as an instrumental music teacher, music department
facilitator and high school assistant principal in Fulton, N.Y.
Robinson was awarded the 1997 Reston Prize from Arts Education Policy Review for
his analysis of arts education policy, and the 1999 Research Award from
the International Network of Performing and Visual Arts Schools. He
recently concluded a term as Editor of the Music Educators Journal, and has served on the editorial/advisory boards of Arts Education Policy Review, the Journal of Music Teacher Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, the Music Educators Journal, the International Journal of Education and the Arts, Research and Issues in Music Education, and the Desert Skies Research Symposium. His publications have appeared in Arts Education Policy Review, Music Educators Journal, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, American Music Teacher, and the American School Board Journal. He was a chapter author for Great Beginnings for Music Teachers: Mentoring and Supporting New Teachers, published by MENC: The National Association for Music Education in 2003, and contributed a chapter to Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom, Volume 2: A Guide to Survival, Success, and Reform, published by Rowman & Littlefield Education. Robinson also contributed two chapters to the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research in American Music Education, and was asked to write the chapter on music (Music Teaching and Learning in a Time of Reform) for What Every Principal Needs to Know: Instructional Leadership for Equitable and Excellent Schools,
which will be published this summer by Teachers College Press. Robinson
also served for two years as scholar-in-residence for music for the
Connecticut State Department of Education, where his work focused on
beginning music teacher induction and support.
A founding member of the Instrumental Music Teacher Educators Association (IMTE), Robinson received B.F.A. degrees in music education and trumpet performance from
the State University of New York at Buffalo, the M.M.Ed. from Hartt
School of Music, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational
Administration from the State University of New York-Oswego, and a Ph.D.
in music education from the Eastman School of Music. He also pursued
post-graduate studies in music education and conducting at Northwestern
University.
Dr. Robinson lives in Okemos, MI, with his wife Cathy, an elementary music teacher, their two sons, Jacob and Drew, and Buddy the Dog.
Selected Publications
Book Chapters
Robinson, M. (2015). A Tale of Two Institutions: Or . . .Myths and
Musings on Work/Life Balance. In Theoharis, G. and Dotger, S. (Eds.), On The High Wire: Education Professors Walk Between Work And Parenting. NY: Information Age Press.
Robinson, M. (2014). Changing the Conversation: Considering Quality in
Music Education Qualitative Research. In Conway, C. (Ed.), Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research in American Music Education. NY: Oxford University Press.
Robinson, M. (2014). The Politics of Publication: Voices, Venues and Ethics. In Conway, C. (Ed.), Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research in American Music Education. NY: Oxford University Press.
Robinson, M. (2012). Music Teaching and Learning in a Time of Reform. In Theoharis, G. and Brooks, J. (Eds.), What Every Principal Needs to Know to Create Equitable and Excellent Schools. NY: Teachers College Press.
Articles
Robinson, M. (2015). The Inchworm and the Nightingale: On the (Mis)use of Data in Music Teacher Evaluation . Arts Education Policy Review, 116, (1), 9-21.
From
the Band Room to the General Music Classroom: Why Instrumentalists
Choose to Teach General Music. (accepted for publication). Bulletin of
the Council for Research in Music Education, 2010.
2 comments:
I have opposed the authority of the PEP since it was formed, and the result was that Leonie Haimson called me a liar and told me that nothing I say or write is credible, and that I will never, ever have any comment or article posted on her NYC Public School Parents' blog. Frankly, I dont care. My website Parentadvocates.org pre-dates Leonie's blog and nonprofit, and we are doing fine, thank you. We do hearings for parents and actively work to change individual situations for the better. We dont have time to sit on panels and talk.
As we dont rely on other people's opinions, we were not confused or upset with Diane Ravitch's switch in educational philosophy. She is welcome to do whatever she wants, just like we are, within the law, of course. We like Ms. Ravitch (pictured at right) very much; we like her humor and value immensely her expertise and her historical analysis in her books of public education, all of which we have bought. However, we are not confused about the bamboozling that has occurred since Mayor Mike Bloomberg installed his expensive PR machine to make him the "education Mayor". The PEP doesnt need to be changed, it needs to be squashed, extinguished, made extinct, demolished, put into a history book as the tool of fools.
Thus, when Leonie partnered with Paola De Kock, the former Executive Board Member and PA President at Stuyvesant High School who removed the chinese parents from the Executive Board and bad-mouthed parent Mary Lok (whom I supported), and then made ridiculous statements about the financial statements of the PA, all of which are still being investigated, I chose to write about it and will continue to do so. I would love to know exactly why Leonie gave Betty Rosa and Kathleen Cashin Awards for being the greatest Regents/Superintendents of the year, 2012. I dont know either of these people personally, but I have seen their names, when they were Superintendents, on various charges made against teachers and children whom, I believe, were falsely accused. I have no personal knowledge whatsoever of any help given to any victim of false claims. Id love to receive any papers which give a different perspective!!
According to information and belief Norm Scott, the best PR person Patrick Sullivan could have, was evidently so upset at my being hired for the "rubber room" advocacy position at the UFT in 2007, and not his best friend Jeff Kaufman, that he never has my comments, articles, opinions, which put the PEP in a negative light. That's ok, too. On my 5 blogs, including NYC Rubber Room Reporter and my website, I say what I mean to say, and I mean what I say. Norm fans need not read any of them.
Then, many months ago, the NYC Parents Union steps into the bamboozle game. This is not to belittle anything that President Mona Davids does, she is making a great effort to lead parents into changing what is going on in NYC, and I applaud her efforts. But there is bamboozling also going on. She joined with David Weprin to water down the PEP, but still keep it. This means to me that she has drunk some party punch (no pun intended) to sound like she wants change, but only a shower, and not a blizzard. She also awarded UFT President Mike Mulgrew with the Parent Union first annual award, after she received $10,000 from the UFT. Arthur Schwartz of Advocates For Justice who still is, or was, associated with Schwartz, Lichten & Bright. Stuart Lichten is, of course the husband of NYSUT Senior Attorney Maria Elena Gonzales Lichten. Mr. Schwartz and his team are to be commended for their latest win in the NYS Supreme Court! I have nothing to say that is negative about their winning cases, I am thrilled that Cuomo and Bloomberg are being hindered in their steamrolling policies.
Mona called me after she formed the NYC Parent Union and I joined (I am, after all, the parent of 4), to tell me she disliked Leonie Haimson's "clique" and she did not like Lisa Donlan (CEC District 1) or Justin Wedes, and she was tired of all the game playing inside and outside of this "clique" as she constantly referred to these people. She also wanted to use my domain name, Parentadvocates, and was really curious as to when I bought the name, how she could not use it, etc. Very strange telephone call.
Nonetheless, the award shows continue within the narrow confines of the group, with Leonie Haimson winning acclaim and being given the "Extraordinary Advocates" Award by none other than Scott Stringer, the Manhattan Borough President who appointed Patrick Sullivan to the Panel For Educational Policy. Gosh, this never ends.