Reposting from Facebook, JaKell’s letter is a fantastic writeup that gives a clear picture of what’s happening in the federal agenda.
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Dear State Board members,
Have you read this change to Title 1 Regulations?
http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule…
The Federal Government is clear that they are “phasing out the authority of states” over standards and tests.
ALL they needed to accomplish their goal was:
1. States to voluntarily adopt national standards
2. States to voluntarily align their tests to the standards
We have done both.
Because you have joined in a resolution supporting state sovereignty with the Governor and legislature, I hope you will take seriously your elected responsibility to evaluate the wisdom of joining into the 3-year federal ESEA/NCLB Waiver, as well as your support for ESEA Reauthorization.
Please ask yourselves what will happen to Title 1 schools, and all schools, after the “phase out” is complete.
Why do both the NCLB Flexibility Waivers and the new ESEA Reauthorization mandate district public school closures and the expansion of Charter schools? Could it be legalized plunder? This entire saga has already played out in urban cities like Chicago where Rahm Emanuel and Arne Duncan have welcomed corporate-owned charters with open arms. The result has devastated whole cities and communities. Families are left to struggle when their neighborhood school is shut down because of “low test scores” (which is manufactured crisis, by the way) and no plan is set forth for where children are to go instead. Sure, they can try and get into a charter across town. But, then one sibling gets in and their brothers and sisters don’t. This creates fractured families and fractured communities. Please read the news stories out of Chicago.
SeattleEducation2010 said it best : “The phasing out of Dyett, one of 17 schools that the Board of Education voted to close or turn around last winter, highlights a process being played out across Chicago—the dismantling of neighborhood public schools, the ushering in of corporate-controlled charters and, in many cases, the gentrification of predominately African-American and Latino neighborhoods. Closing schools, like tearing down public housing, has proved an effective way for Chicago’s rich and powerful to push out and further segregate people of color.”
Please read Anita Hoge’s article below and evaluate if we are headed down the right path for Utah. Anita was recently shut out of testifying in Congress against the pending ESEA Reauthorization.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Hoge/anita108.htm
Best regards as you contemplate the welfare of Utah’s children.
JaKell Sullivan