UPDATE & ACTION: @GovMurphy Promised To Ditch #PARCC. Is He Going Back On His Word?

Gov. Murphy promised to end PARCC testing. Tell him #KeepYourWord!

Update and Action Alert!

Last week I wrote about S-3381, Sen. Teresa Ruiz's bill to change the state's high school graduation requirements that, if signed into law, could have a devastating effect on thousands of New Jersey high school seniors. 

S-3381 now has a companion Assembly bill. A-4957 was posted by Assembly Education Chair Pamela Lampitt, although as of this writing, it has not been assigned to a committee. The Senate bill will be heard in the Senate Budget room tomorrow at noon.

All of this is moving very quickly, and for no good reason. Both bills are expected to be voted on by the full legislature this week, so quick action is needed (see below for specific action items).

Yesterday Save Our Schools NJ posted an extensive update. You can read the full text here. These are the main concerns: 

The NJ Appellate Court indicated that the current high school graduation testing requirements, which were imposed by the Christie Administration in 2016 and ruled illegal by the Court on December 31, 2018, will stay in effect until the Court rules on the Murphy Administration's request that all current juniors and seniors who had partially or fully met those requirements by December 30 2018 be allowed to graduate under the testing options specified in those requirements. In its December 31 ruling, the court had originally indicated that the Christie graduation requirements would be struck down as of January 31. Those testing requirements are available here.

...

If the Court does not grant the Murphy Administration's request regarding current seniors and juniors, there would need to be some other way for those students to meet the high school graduation testing requirements. If the Court grants the Administration's request to allow current seniors and juniors to graduate under the Christie 2016 regulations, that problem would be solved. 

... 

Currently, NJ law requires students to take a single 11th grade basic skills test of English and math in order to graduate. The Ruiz bill would require students to take as many standardized tests as imposed by the NJ Department of Education and for those tests to be a demonstration of "college and career readiness," even though many students do not intend to go to college and even though this terminology is vague enough to allow a gubernatorial Administration to abuse it. The Ruiz bill also requires students to take the college and career tests before they qualify for any other graduation options, which could force current seniors to take PARCC 10th grade ELA and Algebra 1 tests in order to graduate. 

... 

With the additional time granted by the Appellate Court, there is no need to rush this legislation through. These bills would be a substantial change that is likely to have a major negative impact on our children. They should not be pushed through with back room deals, as is currently happening. Parents, students and other education advocates should be able to testify and the legislature should understand the broad-reaching consequences of these bills before they vote to impose them on our children. (emphasis mine)

Here's why we need to fight the Ruiz/Lampitt bills:

• This would be a major change in our law with no study of the impact on kids or costs to districts
• Doubles down against the promise made by Gov. Murphy to end high school exit testing
• Leaves the class of 2021 and beyond without a clear path to graduation
• It's unclear if the bill actually protects the classes of 2019 and 2020. As written, they may have to take PARCC in order to graduate.

Here's why we need to support S-558/A-672, posted by Sen. Nia Gill and Asw. Mila Jasey respectively:

• They provide immediate relief to all current high school students
• They provide breathing room for the NJDOE to come up with a new assessment system. The current 40-year-old statute has never been reviewed.
• They provide time for the legislature to hold hearings on the use of high school exit tests. Research since the 1970's shows that exit testing is very bad for low-income students, students of color, English language learners and students with disabilities. 
• Only 12 states have some form of exit testing; it is not federally mandated
• More tests = more money spent 

Take Action Today!

Gov. Murphy's office does not believe there will be parent backlash on the Ruiz bill. But, people who've already called his office are reporting frazzled staffers on the other end of the line. 

• Keep calling the Governor's Office: 609-292-6000. Tell him #KeepYourWord: veto S-3381/A-4957 and support S-558/A-672.
• Tweet @GovMurphy. Tell him #KeepYourWord: veto S-3381/A-4957 and support S-558/A-672.
• Call Speaker Coughlin's regional office: 732-855-7441. Tell him to support S-558/A-672 and reject S-3381/A-4957.
• Tweet @SpeakerCoughlin. Tell him to support S-558/A-672 and reject S-3381/A-4957. 
• Call your state reps. Tell them to reject S-3381/A-4957 and support S-558/A-672. Find yours here.
• Share this post and encourage others to take action as well

More PARCC drivel from the NJ Star Ledger

Oh my! The NJ DOE shill Star Ledger editorial board is at it again. Today's propaganda piece is about Education Commissioner Hespe's proposed punishments for school districts that don't hit the 95% participation rate on PARCC, the magical test that can determine if your third grader will get into the college of their choice (it just won't help you pay for it). 

The exam is like an MRI for education. It can tell us where kids are failing and help diagnose the problem, even when it's hidden in an otherwise well-performing district. But because parents in more affluent communities have become increasingly suspicious of the state test itself — not unlike the overwrought side-eye given to childhood vaccines — what's now at risk is funding for kids who are most vulnerable.

WHAT?! "An MRI for education"? Vaccine refusers? Government more concerned about students not taking a deeply flawed and harmful test than they are about children not getting life-saving vaccinations? Did somebody put Crazy in the water?! I'm sorry, please excuse me while I clean up the coffee I just spit out, and adjust the antenna on the tin foil hat Tom Moran accuses me of wearing. I've simply got to find the comedy channel source of his claim. 

And we're back.

Yea, I couldn't find any legitimate, researched and vetted sources to back up his claim. But there's plenty out there from organizations who are profiting from this CCRAP.

According to Hespe, a school that fails to hit the 95% cut off could be put on a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) that would include holding parent PARCC information meetings and face-to-face meetings with refusing parents. Like that's going to change things. Schools hold informational meetings all the time and some parents don't show up. Schools hold face-to-face meetings with parents all the time (they're called parent-teacher conferences) and some parents don't show up. What are they going to do? Send armed guards to drag the parents out? Subpoena them? You laugh, but in this altered reality of education 'reform', I wouldn't rule it out.

But, if any of those parents do show up at these meetings, I hope they will print out a copy of this list of must-ask questions and demand answers, and remind school officials of what NJ State BOE President, Mark Biedron, said at the January meeting:

"We know we can't force any kid to put their hands on a keyboard." 

Moran continues...

Hespe says he is "not going to default to a 'you didn't do it, you lose money'" attitude, because it rarely helps kids in the end. He's right. Let's hope he follows through on that pledge. We shouldn't punish the neediest kids for the misguided actions of parents who feel they have nothing to lose.

But it's perfectly okay "to punish the neediest kids for the misguided actions of" adults who want to starve their schools of resources so they can 'fail' and be flipped to charters. If Moran is so concerned about "funding for kids who are most vulnerable", why isn't he shouting from the rooftops about the $6 billion in education funding cuts under the Christie administration? (For more on the egregious cuts to NJ school funding, go to Jersey Jazzman or Dr. Bruce Baker's blogs.) 

More from Jersey Jazzman: 

Unless and until these fine, reformy folk are willing to stand up and demand that schools serving poor children get the funds they need, I don't want to hear any more of their tut-tutting at middle-class white people for opting their children out of standardized testing. 

And their mouthpieces in the press and the bloggosphere and the think tanks — those who consistently ignore the problem of inadequate and unfair school funding — don't even deserve acknowledgment. Their indifference to the plight of impoverished children in underfunded schools, all while looking down their noses at those who opt their children out, speaks volumes. (emphasis mine)

And no SL education op-ed would be complete without attacking and blaming teachers: 

The teachers' union that has been whipping up hysteria about this test is now accusing the state of "threats and intimidation." 

Well, Tom, what else would you call a policy that threatens and intimidates schools, educators and students? Oh right: "an MRI for education".

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

It doesn't matter that the test is flawed. It doesn't matter that the test is developmentally inappropriate, especially for special needs students. It doesn't matter that the test is not diagnostic. It doesn't matter that teachers, parents and students won't be able to see the answers. It doesn't matter that the prep and administration of this test has taken countless instructional hours out of the school day. It doesn't matter that school districts are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tech upgrades for this unfunded mandate. It doesn't matter that many students have purposely thrown their test answers because they know it doesn't count for them this year. It doesn't matter that many teachers' jobs will be on the line because of those thrown tests. It doesn't matter that this test was never properly vetted nor piloted... None of that matters because according to Moran, this test is the 'Great White Hope', that will finally defeat poverty in our mostly minority, urban areas. (Adding: while lining the pockets of the edupreneurs)

And as long as Tom Moran and the Star Ledger editorial board keep writing this CCRAP, I will keep saying it. As the parent-led opt-out movement grows, more and more parents are realizing just how much mainstream media is responsible for propagating this drivel.  

ADDING: It seems Jersey Jazzman and I were on the same tin foil channel today. At the same time I posted this, he posted this.