february rabble rouser(s) of the month: carol burris & the opt-out dissenters

no child left behind mandate of 2001 paved the way for upping the ante in standardized testing on the common core subjects over the last couple of years.  the “common core” are a set of high-stakes principles by which all students are evaluated in basic education subjects, like math and science. with the new PARCC tests to begin in 43 states in march, some very heated debate has sprung up.
proponents say that each state having their own standards has created disparities and a common core can unify the standards.  theoretically, a strong standardized system would keep elementary thru high school students up to speed nationwide. frustrated parents, students, teachers and other opponents such as the harvard graduate school of education insist that the exam process has been corrupted and that public education has become distorted.  in the case of evaluations, one size does not fit all, and there becomes a loss of creativity and individualization. students are not universally prepared and, in fact, 65% to 70% are likely to fail.  the PARCC, in addition to to other standard tests such as ACT, SAT, AP and others, are sapping students and depriving teachers of days to actually teach.  high-stakes education have also been correlated with high drop out rates.

a standardized system is criticized for being run by bureaucrats (“fed ed”) rather than local educators.  “the further we remove these decisions from the students, teachers and families, the people closest to the school, the more we see our schools failing and we’re not getting the results we want,” cheryl boise of pennsylvanians restoring education was quoted in penn live in 2013. the gripe has been that the raised standards cannot be met without adequate resources, which sets certain schools up for failure and puts schools at risk of closure and teachers out of work, only to be replaced by for-profit charter schools.

tens of thousands of students from new york, colorado, pennsylvania, ohio, oregon, and others started the dissent back last year, but with testing set to begin soon, “opting out” has become a major trend this month. vindy.com has listed many examples of protest, such as an ohio middle school teacher calling out the “bullies” for warning of consequences for students sitting out exams. for better or worse, standardization has created a federally-funded system. the federal government has proposed repercussions in loss of federal stimulus for states that do not adopt the changes. in fact, the state of washington was stripped of it's NCLB waiver last april.  opponents say taking funding away creates a disparity similar to what the testing is purported to avoid.

there is not even consensus from state to state whether it is legal for parents or students to opt out. the repercussions for not participating are widely varied with some states having no policies and some cutting off funding.

websites such as fairtest.org and unitedoptout.com has risen to encourage an end to government mandated education reform as more and more parents across the country are pushing for opting out. carol burris, new york's 2013 high school principal of the year, wrote an eloquent op-ed for the washington post on february 19, in which she broke down the various factors for why testing is killing education and then stated, “i am a rule follower by nature. i have never gotten a speeding ticket. i patiently wait my turn in lines. i am the product of 12 years of catholic schools — raised in a blue-collar home where authority was not to be questioned. i was the little girl who always colored in the lines. but there comes a time when rules must be broken — when adults, after exhausting all remedies, must be willing to break ranks and not comply. that time is now. the promise of a public school system, however imperfectly realized, is at risk of being destroyed. the future of our children is hanging from testing’s high stakes. the time to opt out is now.

apparently, the government is listening and trying to react to the protests.  the governor of florida has acknowledged that schools are saturated in tests.  perhaps most notably, secretary of education arne duncan has asked congress to rewrite no child left behind to limit standardized testing.

students in sante fe, new mexico protest at the
public education department on feb 24.
(eddie moore/albuquerque journal)

billboard on the street in long island, ny on feb 13. (from: thepjsta.org)

Seahawks gripes, #GetOverIt

perspective for the ungrateful monday morning armchair Seahawks fans and sports bloggers:

criticizing Pete Carroll for getting the team within 1 yard of winning back-to-back super bowls is like bitching about winning the lottery.  just in case anyone thinks they can do the job better, the Seahawks won't be accepting applications for at least a decade.  7 different Hawks coaches in 33 years won a total of 7 playoff games, Carroll has won 7 playoff games in 5 years with the team.  fans of 30 other NFL teams will gladly take that problem.

here's a great nugget: the Chiefs beat the Seahawks and Patriots this year, but didn't even make the playoffs.  in fact, the Chiefs have beat the Hawks 20 of the last 26 games, yet the Chiefs haven't won a playoff game in 21 years and haven't been to the super bowl in 45 years.  you know how much they appreciate whining Seahags?  they are just itching for the next chance to prove who the better team is. Hawks fans need to have more gratitude for being a marquee franchise right now.

probably the play that built up all the frustration in Irvin (51) that caused him to erupt at the end of the super bowl. 

rabble rouser of the month :: january 2015

cassandra fortin (aka cassandra c)
  a 17-year-old girl was diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma last year.  she decided to not undergo chemotherapy to eradicate the disease.  the decision was supported by her mother, but not the state of connecticut.  cassandra was then kidnapped, taken to the hospital and given radiation treatments. basically, she is opposed to the poison used for treatment, doesn't want it in her body, and doesn't want to further put toxins into the ecosystem for her own supposed benefit.      this isn't a terribly rare scenario.  it's just that complicating factors like pregnancy, religious beliefs, "first nation" rights, different state's and nation's laws all give different underage people different rights.  and in connecticut that seems to mean that cassandra is not allowed to make decisions for herself that other people elsewhere may or may not be able to make.
     meanwhile, someone over the age of 18 can choose to commit suicide to end their pain, such as brittany maynard did after moving to portland be able to "die with diginity".  brittany became a national celebrity for refusing cancer treatments.  i am not judging brittany's case and imagine i would have done a similar thing, but it is a contradiction to villainize one person and glorify another for essentially the same thing just because one is 12 years older than the other.
     and let's certainly not suggest this is about the government wanting to care for citizens.  a queensland father is looking at jail time for giving his dying daughter cannabis oil even though the result was a great improvement, much like angela brown and her son in minnesota last year.


runner up.

     good old fashioned pranksters from toronto, (kyle forgeard, jesse sebastiani, niko martinovic and marko martinovic) pulled a stunt on LAPD, in which they videoed themselves offering to sell coke to people near the beach.  then, when the cops show up, things get goofy.
after announcing that they have a bunch of coke in the back, the kid in back says somewhat offhandedly,"i didn't know you couldn't sell it like that tough." in response, the female officer says, "will figure it out man, just relax." her response alone got endless chuckles from me.  after checking out the car, finding only coca-cola, the cops are seen laughing, joking and shaking hands with the pranksters that they naturally let go.  the only problem came from the posting it online to much criticism, including the LAPD who weren't laughing about it in hindsight.
     certainly, the video has been criticized by more straight-laced people as a waste of police time. perhaps that's a justifiable rationale, but taking the video on it's own accord,  the acting is priceless. straight-faced, they are so convincing in pulling this off.  no doubt they could probably have a decent career ala the jerky boys or jackass type schticks.