Parents, teachers want say in education policies

Written by Don Bartalo
Guest essayist

This is a follow-up to the July 31 Speaking Out Essay, “Evidence shows high-stakes testing has failed.”

I recently returned from Washington, D.C., where I participated in the Save Our Schools (S.O.S.) March and Call to Action. More than 5,000 educators, parents and activists from across the United States gathered near the White House on a blistering hot Saturday afternoon to demand an end to the destructive policies and rhetoric that have eroded confidence in our public schools, demoralized teachers and reduced the education of too many of our children to nothing more than test preparation.
These concerned citizens stood united by one belief — it is time for educators and parents to organize against top-down education reform and test-driven accountability. Marchers carried signs that read, “Less Testing, More Teaching” and “How Did We Get All the Way to the Moon Without Standardized Tests?”
Save Our Schools is a national grassroots movement that is sending a loud and clear message to President Barack Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and congressional leaders that educators and parents must have a greater say in drafting new federal legislation under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
As we made the turn off 17th Street toward the White House, it occurred to me that the “sleeping giant” — thousands and thousands of educators and parents across the country — has finally been awakened. There is no doubt in my mind that their voices will be heard in Washington and in every state education department in America.
Don Bartalo is an instructional leadership developer and coach in Rochester. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110806/OPINION02/108060302/Parents-teachers-want-say-education-policies