GEM High Stakes Testing Committee Meets Nov. 2

The next planning meeting of the Change the Stakes Campaign is tomorrow, Nov 2nd, 5:30pm at the CUNY graduate center, room 5414. 
This is a unique opportunity and a unique time in history where anything seems possible if it grows out of grassroots  cooperation and organizing. We hope you will join us.We stand in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street actions in support of Occupy Oakland and against police brutality; unfortunately the date and time for the campaign meeting have been set for over a month and published on fliers and in various listservs. If you cannot attend because of participation in these actions, or for any other reason, but would like to get involved with the campaign please send an email toe.h.bell@gmail.com and we will keep you updated on any next steps.
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Nowhere is the agenda of the corporate reform movement clearer that in the use of racially-biased high-stakes tests to shame students, undermine teacher protections and then use the scores as justification for closing schools in poor neighborhoods and privatizing their space against the will of the community, using the test scores as a "justification".

Over the summer, the Grassroots Education Movement called for a High-Stakes Testing committee that drew a number of concerned teachers, parents and organizers together to begin to examine this issue and start a dialogue- a brainstorm as it were- about how to address and respond to high stakes testing and its negative effects on our children, teachers and schools. 

From these conversation emerged the idea of building a city-wide campaign specifically aimed at organizing constituents to fight this insidious monster; of finding ways to educate ourselves and others about these issues; of using people-power to demand that our elected officials support us in putting an end to this insanity; and of creating a way to unite all the forces city-wide who are deeply concerned about what the ways high-stakes tests have influenced our schools.The initial crafting of this campaign was aided by the support and guidance of Time Out From Testing, whose founding mission, organization and actions have addressed the issues of excessive and high stakestesting for almost a decade.

We came up with the name "Change the Stakes" since it is the high-stakes nature of these tests that is the root cause of their devastating influence. Our kids' education and futures are at stake when it comes to this issue. Education is high-stakes, but testing shouldn't be. 

We invite you to join us in our efforts to build a solid and influential campaign to educate and mobilize parents, educators and students around the possibility of opting-out of and putting an end to high-stakes testing and together create an alternative vision of what accountability--- to our communities--- could really be.  We invite you to help us continue to craft this campaign and vision because we understand that building this effort together will be the best way to have the most profound effect.


   Wednesday, November 2, 5.30-7.30
   CUNY Grad Center, Room 5414

Sincerely,
the GEM high-stakes testing committee

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