Tonight: MisEducation Nation/ Oct. 12 - It's Time to Change the Stakes

I'm posting this email from parent activist Janine Sopp to her listserve. If you can make it to the School of the Future at 7PM tonight you will get the alternative view from Education Nation - see my upcoming post on my adverntures there yesterday.

And on October 12, we kick off our "Change the Stakes" campaign to reverse the impact of high stakes testing, which has affected - and infected- almost every child, parent and teacher in America - except for those involved with private schools. Yong Zhao is honoring us as the guest speaker.


Both events are co-sponsored by the Grassroots Education Movement.

Dear Parents, Teachers, Administrators and Friends,

If you are reading and listening to the media of late, you will find that issues around "Education" have been making the headlines.  In President Obama's State of the Union Speech the other night, he spoke firmly about his vision of what our Education System should be.  This article speaks to his points and clarifies some of the facts behind the talk.  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/it-makes-no-sense-a-dissection.html

Below are two very important and informative events that will help to shape your understanding of the path our current administration, from the Federal Government down to the State and City level are taking.  Should you find the laws and policies being implemented in your child's school confusing at best and potentially destructive rather than instructive, please consider attending one or both of these events and engaging in the process of educating yourself on the current climate of Education. 

There are many policies in the works that will effect our students, our teachers and our schools, most of which will be put in place without our consent.  If you want to know what to expect beyond what has already happened, these panel discussions will help you gain some perspective.  If you feel this is not the path you would like to see for our children and our schools, now is the time to get informed and involved.

I hope to see some of you there......
Regards,
Janine

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FAIR New York City Event

September 27, 2011

MisEducation Nation:
Corporate Media and Corporate Education Reform

NBC is staging its second annual "Education Nation" summit at the end of September--a series of events and broadcasts bankrolled by the corporate interests and foundations aligned with the so-called "education reform" movement.

Corporate media coverage of education policy tends to hew closely to the "reform" agenda: promoting charter schools and vouchers, embracing relentless testing and other "accountability" measures, and attacking teachers' unions for standing in the way of progress.

What would a more reasonable conversation about public education look like?

On September 27, join FAIR and four of the most dynamic and thoughtful education experts and activists in the country for a FREE discussion about how the media mangle the debate over public schools.

The panelists:
-Diane Ravitch
Author, NYU Research Professor of Education
-Pedro Noguera
NYU Professor of Education
-Brian Jones
Teacher-Activist
-Leonie Haimson
Executive Director, Class Size Matters
Moderator: Laura Flanders
Author/Journalist

September 27, 2011
7:00 PM
School of the Future Auditorium
127 East 22nd Street
between Park and Lexington)
New York, NY 10010

Free of charge.

CO-SPONSORS: Class Size Matters, WBAI 99.5 FM, Parents Across America, Grassroots Education Movement, Rethinking Schools, NYCoRE, Coalition for Public Education, Teachers Unite For More information:   http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=102

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It is Time to Change the Stakes!

Join us for an evening with Yong Zhao...

“American education is at a crossroads.  Two paths lie in front of us:  one in which we destroy our strengths in order to catch up with others on test scores and one in which we build on our strengths so we can keep the lead in innovation and creativity.  The current push for more standardization, centralization, high-stakes testing, and test-based accountability is rushing us down the first path, while what will truly keep America strong and Americans prosperous should be the latter, the one that cherishes individual talents, cultivates creativity, celebrates diversity, and inspires curiosity.”  –Yong Zhao

Yong Zhao is one of the most eloquent critics of the high cost of high-stakes testing and an expert on the Chinese educational system, which is attempting to move away from the ridgid accountability system that Arne Duncan and other corporate reformers are pushing our country towards.  

He is the Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global Education at the University of Oregon, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE)..  For more information visit:  http://zhaolearning.com

October 12, 2011

Location:  I.S. 89 201 Warren Street   New York, NY  10282

Time:  6:30-8:30 PM

Sponsored by:  Class Size Matters, Grassroots Education Movement, I.S. 89 PTA, Parents Across America, and Time-Out From Testing

See Attachment

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