The other
day New
York State
PTA
Education
Coordinator
Bob Aloise
gave a
speech on
the Common
Core
Learning
Standards
(CCLS) and
state
testing.
Giving a
speech is
not in
itself
anything
special,
but
stating
that
school
districts
may call
Child
Protective
Services
(CPS) on
parents
who opt
their
children
out of
state
testing
due to
educational
neglect is
a rather
poignant
moment.
You can
hear his
comment
here
and view
the Power
Point
here
(added
11/27/13).
Words
cannot
express
all that
is wrong
with the
idea that
a school
leader
would
threaten
to call
CPS on a
parent who
opts their
child out
of state
testing,
and that
it would
even be
brought up
in a
speech to
parents at
a PTA
event.
Over the
19 years I
have been
in
education,
I have
seen CPS
visit
students
who were
being
neglected,
sexually
and
physically
abused, or
living in
deplorable
conditions.
CPS has
more
important
work to do
then
maintain
Martial
Law on
parents
who opt
their
children
out of
testing.
Unfortunately,
there have
been
situations
where
principals
have
threatened
to call
CPS on
parents
who choose
to opt out
their
children
out of
testing.
In an
e-mail
correspondence
from April
of 2012, a
principal
from
Oceanside
Union Free
School
District
told a
parent who
wanted to
keep her
child home
during the
testing
period
that,
"If without medical justification, Joseph is absent from school on any day during the Assessment period, the District will deem this absence as unexcused. Further, if you keep Joseph home from school during the Assessment period, without medical verification, it is within the District's discretion to deem these absences as indicia of educational neglect, which would leave the District little choice but to contact Child Protective Services ("CPS")."
We have
indeed
lost
common
sense when
it comes
to
education
if school
leaders
threaten
to call
CPS.
We Need
Open-minded
Leadership
During
these
times of
accountability,
we need
open-minded
leadership.
Not one
that
threatens
staff and
parents,
but
leadership
that can
help build
relationships
and
encourages
teachers
to have
creativity
by not
micro-managing
everything
they do.
Teachers
who are
given
autonomy
will be
more
likely to
give
autonomy
to their
students.
Unfortunately,
with the
implementation
of the new
Common
Core State
Standards
some
states
have
created
strict
curriculum
which
means
there is
less
autonomy
in the
classroom.
It's not
always the
standards
that is
bad, but
what the
adults do
with the
standard
that
becomes a
problem.
Times of
accountability
have
brought
about more
rule
following
and less
risk-taking.
Education
should be
uncomfortable
and messy,
and it
should
always
lead to
debate.
Educators
should be
passionate
enough
about
their
craft that
they want
to debate
what is
good and
what is
bad. It's
pathetic
that
school
leaders
shy away
from
debate in
order to
just move
forward to
follow
rules.
Debate is
healthy,
inspiring,
and can
lead to
stronger
practices.
As we
know,
however,
rule
following
and
compliance
are
byproducts
of the
accountability
movement
and it is
spreading
to the
point that
parents
are being
told
school
leaders
may call
CPS on any
parent who
wants to
opt their
child out
of
testing.
There is
no
coincidence
why this
message
was given
during a
school
year that
has the
potential
to have
the
greatest
number of
opt outs.
We Need
Multipliers
Liz
Wiseman,
the
co-author
of
The
Multiplier
Effect:
Tapping
the Genius
Inside Our
Schools
wrote
about
diminishers
and
multipliers.
Diminishers
are
leaders
who
diminish
the gifts
of those
around
them and
spread
fear among
their
staff.
Wiseman
also
focused on
a much
more
positive
influence,
and those
are
leaders
who are
multipliers.
In her
guest blog
for
Finding
Common
Ground
Liz wrote,
"On the other side of the spectrum are leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them. When these leaders walk into a room, light bulbs go on; ideas flow and problems get solved. These are the leaders who inspire teachers and administrators to stretch themselves and surpass expectations. These leaders use their smarts to make everyone around them smarter and more capable. These leaders are "multipliers."
Unfortunately,
leaders
like those
who only
spread
fear
instead of
building
relationships
have a far
more
devastating
effect on
their
schools.
Liz went
on to
write,
"Despite their cost and their often-toxic effect on school culture, why do many of these diminishing leaders remain in positions of importance? Is it because they often do a good job managing up to the superintendent and school board? Or is it because staff and teachers working for Diminishers operate in fear, retreat to a safe place, and learn to tread lightly hoping that "this too shall pass?" Or is it because they create a flurry of determined activity around them and, in absence of clear answers for our most difficult challenges in education, even the pretense of progress can be comforting?"
In the
End
Now more
than ever,
we need
great
leaders.
From the
state
level to
the
district
and
building
level we
need
leaders
who can
differentiate
between
what is a
positive
change and
what has
negative
consequences
for
teachers
and
students.
If the
best
method
leaders
can find
to get
compliance
is
threaten
calls to
CPS, then
they are
doing
nothing to
move
education
forward.
They are
merely
creating a
culture of
fear.
Education
deserves
better
than that.