From OEA Vice President Alicia Priest This is a post from one of my friends who is a teacher. Please read it and feel the heartbreak. Then call a legislator! My heart is broken today for some of our students. The testing window opened up this week, so we, just like every other school district in the state, began the laborious, heinous, and abusive process of assessing and labeling our students in an effort to appease elected thugs who prey on kids enrolled in public schools (after all, private schools dont do this to kids and public schools have no choice). One of our students, who, by the way, is a great kid, left his testing room in tears. This is not a young child, but rather a 16-year-old junior in high school. He has worked SO HARD, but all his effort and his progress dont mean a darn thing to the SDE and state legislature. He missed passing by one lousy point. This fantastic young man literally sat in tears because his best wasnt good enough to earn a diploma. He comes to school every day. He does his work every day. He stays out of trouble every day. He has come so far this year, but we cant show that; we can only test him and hope. The picture of misery and dejection that he presented was absolutely heart-breaking. And his teacher cried with him. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DOING TO KIDS and the teachers who care so much about them. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. This is not why I changed from pre-med to English. This is not why I chose to teach. This is not why I still get up day after day and go to school, even after 22 years. Parents, those jackasses arent listening to us. You MUST stand up and be heard. Call people; rattle cages; file lawsuits. Whatever it is, please, I beg you, DO SOMETHING. It could be your kid sitting in tears tomorrow wondering what he or she will do without a diploma.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 21:20:18 +0000
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