Testing Day, and No Love for the Charters

Last night I spoke before the Board of Education and the superintendent's cabinet. Once again, I brought a prepared musical presentation.

Here's the full testimony on YouTube.

And here are the lyrics:

Testing Day (To the tune of “Yesterday”)

Testing day….Common sense just seems so far away

But these bubble sheets don't have to stay. Why not cut down on testing day?

Racially…There is still such inequality

Inappropriate, developmentally, and not to mention, visually.

Why give in to lies? It destroys us, day by day

I say, something's wrong! I refuse, for testing day

Testing day. You've got such a tricky game to play. 

With the problems that you hide away. They're all because of testing day.

Stop the madness...testing day.

As a few parents of public school students, teachers of physical education, one disgruntled neighbor, and a leader of substitute teachers, spoke about various issues such as class size, staffing cuts, or school climate, a vocal and privileged majority spoke in favor of the expansion of a nearby charter school, from a single K-8 program housed in two buildings to an additional K-8 and a high school. It was nauseating to hear parents and teachers from this school, one after the other, talk about the wonder of small class sizes, team teaching, innovation, exciting ideas, extended hours of course...and then asking for more. 

Do they not understand that those who are getting this opportunity are doing so by taking away from the students who are not? Are they not understanding that the main reason that they have such a lovely student body there is that the school skims the "cream" off the top of the city student population? The lottery process is supposed to be fair, but the only people who apply to the lottery are those with the wherewithal to do so--the literacy, the time, the transportation. Also, in this school, students are guaranteed a spot if they have a sibling who attends. Particularly now as this school has gotten more popular, they end up with fewer spaces available for the newcomers.

Proponents of charters claim that charters are public schools, just like the ones in the school system. No. Charter schools are private schools funded with public money. They take public money but can pay teachers and staff whatever they choose. 

I received an emailed compliment from someone whose child attends that school, whom I've known for a few years. She enjoyed my testimony and my song. I haven't responded to her yet because I just don't want to say what's really on my mind--funny that you're sitting there supporting this thieving charter school when I know that you and most of the other parents in that room would be paying happily for private school if it didn't exist.