Dear Colleagues,
1. There is a TUSH this Friday, November 14 at the Heights Grill (2206 Lee Rd) from 4-6. Come celebrate Friday with some snacks and cash bar.
2. Last night the Heights Coalition for Public Education held its first forum, the myth of failing schools. This morning Dallas Schubert, active parent, alum, and former levy chair sent the letter below to all board members who are in Columbus for a conference. It is a powerful statement of what the leadership the group will be expecting from the board of education in the future. Please consider going to the website she mentions below to endorse the group's position and to look over Rob's presentation.
Enjoy,
See you Friday.
Ari Klein
FROM DALLAS SCHUBERT TO MEMBERS OF THE CHUH BOARD OF EDUCATION
Good morning everyone!
It is a shame you all had to miss last night's Myth of Failing Public Schools event. We had over 100 people show up to hear Rob Weil speak about how to achieve excellent schools, how to achieve equity and mitigate the effects of poverty, what is appropriate use of data, and what is not, how to improve rather than punish teachers and schools, the devastating effects of the obsession with testing and "accountability", and how we are allowing the free market to destroy public education. He showed, in point after point, how all the evidence and research should be leading us on the opposite direction from current education policy. We had people there from Shaker, Orange, Elyria and Oberlin.
There is a growing movement to stand up and say no to education policy that is driven by the interests of large corporations like Pearson, and yes to policy that is driven by evidence and research and what is best for children. We, at Heights Coalition for Public Education, support our school district, our teachers, our parents and our kids. We believe we share common goals for what education in our schools should look like, and how we must be delivering it equitably to all children. We must come to a clear understanding that we will not reach those goals, or ever achieve equity or excellence, if we continue to allow tests and test scores to define us, one way or the other, and drive the educational experience.
We are organizing and we are doing so across districts. We will be coming to you asking you to take some strong positions and set better policy. I urge you to visit our website at chuh.net/coalition to check out Rob Weil's presentation, and like us on facebook. I urge you to sign on to our position statement. And I urge to you to attend our next events, the Myth of the Failing Teacher on January 28, and the Myth of the Failing Student on March 24.
Thank you for your time and service to our kids and community,
Dallas Schubert