There is Too Much Testing and Not Enough Creativity

in public education, not that this opinion piece is going to have one damned effect on what the privatizers want:

Politicians are complicit in leaving children behind when they fail to represent us and instead side with their corporate sponsors. After standing with hundreds of people at health care vigils and rallies who do want comprehensive health care for all people, I know politicians do not represent us when they say we do not.

Having talked with many parents, teachers and students, I know that politicians who push for more testing, standards and competition, rather than high quality, holistic, personalized and engaging education in our schools are not representing us.

They are selling out to profiteering testing and curriculum corporations, and obstructing the function of education, described well by the Rev. Martin Luther King: “to teach one to think intensively and to think critically ... intelligence plus character.”

From John Dewey to Maria Montessori to a transformed Diane Ravitch, educators tell us that schools should be more like families, where every person is recognized for their individual gifts and talents, where cooperation leads to more sharing of resources and ideas, where experiential, motivational, inspired learning is the norm, and where everyone feels valued and cared for.

The business model of standardization and competition does not work in schools — not if we want the creativity, critical thinking, innovation and teamwork that are vital for progress in the 21st century.

I like her remark later in the piece about valuing only what we measure, not measuring what we value.