Fighting Testing Madness in North Carolina
PAA affiliate MecklenburgACTS.org has launched a North Carolina-wide petition drive aimed at the high-stakes standardized tests that are doing so much damage to our children’s education.
The petition builds on our successful campaign against testing madness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools two years ago. It calls on state legislators and school officials to reduce the number of exams required by the state and to remove all high-stakes consequences such as A-F schoolgrading and any connection to teacher pay.
Our goal is to target the piece of so-called education “reform” that has the most direct impact on parents and students, and to focus on what our state officials have the power to do (the disaster of federal policy is another fight). We think this is the best way to build a broad-based movement in our state.
The launch was timed to coincide with a visit by Diane Ravitch. She gave a great shout-out to us in both her talks. She also urged folks to get involved. “Parents and students are the ones who can make a difference,” she said. “You have power to stop this madness, and you should use it.”
No one tells the truth like Diane.
We welcomed Diane with an op-ed piece in the Charlotte Observer: Stop hyper-testing in N.C. You can also see the talk she gave on YouTube
Anyone with friends in North Carolina, please send them our MecklenburgACTS.org site and urge them to
