Governor Pence Has Not Fixed the ISTEP Problem: a mother's rant

In the midst of the proceeding to remove Glenda Ritz from her role as chairperson of the state board of education, our governor held a conference deflecting this blatant disregard for democracy and addressed the outraged parents' concerns that the ISTEP was too much time on testing and that by executive order he was having it shortened. Parents who knew very little about the overall situation of public education, nor the history of this testing debacle celebrated all over social media that the governor heard them.  In response, our ICPE-Monroe County chairperson, wrote this Facebook blast:

"Governor Pence has swooped down on his white horse and hat to right the wrongs of the ISTEP. You have got to be kidding me.

Fixed ISTEP?

Yes. The same way that dissolving his secondary department of education at the start of this session (CREATED BY HIS OWN EXECUTIVE ORDER WASTING MILLIONS OF OUR HARD-EARNED TAX DOLLARS) "FIXED" the troubles with Ritz and the SBOE.

Governor Pence has created both problems and then somehow gets credit for finding solutions. Heck, he doesn't need his own state-run newspaper. He's got a confused unaware citizenry.

It was the pressure of his constituency and that of the super majority that made them PASS A LAW TO STOP COMMON CORE AND CREATE NEW STATE STANDARDS. Yes, the feds require college and career ready standards. So give up the waiver already. Democrats, Republicans-- these are corporate education reformers we are talking about and they are not doing ANY OF THIS FOR YOUR KIDS. It is all about the money.

Glenda Ritz put together new state standards by including as many of the players she could and being sure that she was including all of the many standards that the supermajority, SBOE and governor required of her. She and her staff wanted to ask for a halt to the accountability until they could roll out and test this assessment. This is our superintendent enacting THE POLICY SET BY THE GOVERNOR THE SBOE AND THE SUPERMAJORITY. (Yes, in line with the federal requirements. So drop the waiver already. Aren't you so flipping proud of your surplus as others have pointed out).

But it's not even about standards. There is NO RESEARCH that shows that standards educate children. I thought they salivated over data? SHOW ME THE DATA.

It's about Chambers of commerce blaming teachers for not having kids "college and career ready for a global economy" while they and their corporate interests ship jobs overseas or avoid paying workers a living wage so the top tier can make more money. SHOW ME THE JOBS, INDIANA SUPERMAJORITY. Because these kids in public schools can sure as heck show you some jobless parents.

It's about making money off of these exams that show that kids are failing and blaming the schools of education for creating these teachers who can't get kids to test well. Let's test the teachers to test the schools of education to prove that they, too are failing. Watch them open their virtual online academies of teacher preparedness training. OR, more profitable, let's create more Teach for America unskilled well-meaning teachers to replace those union thugs.

It's about a narrative that calls superintendents CEOs and views schools as businesses and education as a product and our kids--widgets in a factory. Those unskilled laborers are creating a better product because of competition.

It's about a message that claims that our public schools are failing. And the offer: MARKETS WILL SOLVE EVERYTHING.

It's about ALEC (google ALEC and destroy public education) and the Friedman Foundation and creating a market. Choose your schools, privatize the system so the markets can improve everything. Try charters (where only engaged parents can transport kids and get on lotteries and no democratic accountability to the people exists because there is no voting for a board to run them and they are proven to be no better and no worse, but way more open to corruption and harm for kids). Try your voucher (then you don't have to go to school with those kids. Except, of course in your private school doesn't want to keep you or deems you a behavior problem). Where these have existed, public schools have not improved. What of the kids in those schools?

Here's the thing.

My child is not college and career ready because he is a child. A test does not begin to sum up what I want for him. I trust teachers. i believe in public education because I believe that every single child regardless of background should have the same opportunity to a free, high quality public education as it states in our Indiana constitution. I believe that accountability means:

Every child should have a school that has enough nurses, social workers, guidance counselors, gym teachers, art teachers, music teachers, librarians, small class sizes, electives, hands-on projects, science experiments, theater, band. Every child. But instead our schools are being strangled. They are jumping through hoops where every. single. thing. is. tied. to. a. score. And the purpose is money.

Tell you what:

Let's privatize firefighters and police officers. They don't get to houses in the inner cities or out in rural areas fast enough. Let's see if competition improves things. Oh? That child in the meth trailer out in the county? Too bad. If his parents weren't on drugs maybe they could have afforded to buy a house closer to the damn fire department.

No, you know what? I don't ride the city bus. But my teens could use a new used car. Give me a voucher for the money for public transportation because the money should follow my child. I don't like to touch the books at the library either, gimme my voucher for Barnes and Noble.

Ridiculous? Our ancestors would be appalled that we want to go back to the days where the children lie dying neglected in the streets.

Governor Pence and his friends at ALEC, the Koch brothers, don't believe in democracy. They don't believe in a government for the people, by the people and of the people. They don't believe in democratically elected school boards and schools.

Glenda Ritz was in the way of a much bigger agenda. My child who has not yet lost his baby teeth is a pawn in a game that has taken away our local control, relegated our public school system to a circus act of jumping through testing hoops to please the ringmaster... who can bring the tent down at any time.

Fix the problem? Be rebellious, Indiana. Wake up and smell the fascism. You've got someone who gets his way by executive order and a supermajority with no checks and balances. The one dissent in the education policymaking just lost her major responsibilities--not by democratic vote, but by changing her position through statute. Follow the money and you'll find the motivations.

I hope the mama bears and papa bears, and yes, the Grandma and Grandpa Grizzlies will get mad enough to do something radical:

Vote.