I had to say something...

I have written about this before, but it’s on my heart and this is my best outlet.

When I see small children afraid to come to school, not because of missing homework or bullies, but rather because of a standardized test called TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills), it breaks my heart and infuriates my soul at the same time.

The state of Texas is doing a serious disservice to lives and futures its people by putting our children through this kind of an “educational” ringer.

The biggest worry that a third grader should have is getting cooties, not passing some damn standardized test!

We have lawmakers in Austin (and Rick Perry is the main one) with no educational training who are sitting in their ivory tower and tossing out educational reform ideas like an old, blind man feeding handfuls of pebbles to a flock of hungry birds. He has no idea that the pebbles aren’t food, and that they are actually killing the very birds he’s trying to feed, so he keeps on throwing. He hears voices all around pleading with him to stop throwing, but instead, out of frustration, he starts throwing larger and larger stones. If a bird dies, he just starts throwing harder. He has an inexhaustible supply of stones, and there is no end in sight to this bizarre pattern.

These lawmakers have never spent time down in the trenches. They have never had to stand by and watch a third grade girl pull her own hair out by the handfuls, because she so afraid of failing this giant test. Not because she cares about the grade, but because she knows that, even though the scores are kept “confidential,” everyone will know if she passed, because if you fail you’re put into a special reading group. And that will make her different.

These lawmakers have never had to find discreet ways of looking under a child’s long sleeves to see if he’s started cutting himself again. And they sure haven’t had to watch this same boy’s mom crumble into a sobbing mass when they tell her that it’s happening again.

These lawmakers have never had to use a translator to tell loving parents that their child, mostly because English isn’t spoken at home, is going to have to repeat the third grade. And then look across the table at the child and try to convince her that she isn’t stupid.

These lawmakers have never had to watch as the joy that should be daily in Kindergarten, is washed away with the promise of “better first grade readers.” Oh sure, it sounds great, but they are forcing teachers to use developmentally inappropriate testing with these small children.

What’s the bottom line for these lawmakers? It’s not quality education. It’s not brighter futures of the children of Texas. It’s not the mental and physical wellbeing of their constituents.

It’s Money.

The better we score on these tests, the more money the state gets. The more money the state gets, the more stones the lawmakers can buy for the old man.

I know Governor Perry recently led the charge for Texas to keep some of its educational autonomy by opting out of President Obama’s education program, but don’t let that fool you. We still get federal money. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t turn down ALL of the federal funding.

So what can you and I do?

Scream.

Yell.

Make Noise.

Let the lawmakers know that we don’t like what’s happening…make them listen to us for a change.

Mine is only one small voice, but together maybe we can stop that old, blind man before he starts throwing boulders.

Thanks for listening,

Hugh