The Night Before… Once
More
‘Tis the old year that’s closing rosy and
gloomy,
In with de Blasio and goodbye to Bloomy.
With citywide hope cautiously mingled with
doubt,
We’ll soon know down here whether to smile
or to shout.
Some fresh air to breathe, perhaps, while
out of the North,
Tisch and King blow chill winds and continue
to froth.
Insistent on putting coal core in each
stocking,
They say with disdain our resistance is
shocking.
“Tough standards we need them to prep kids
for college,
Make them think deeper, absorb non-fiction
knowledge.”
Took Tisch merely a decade to find the right
path
And figure that graduates should read and do
math.
Now there’s no time to lose, can’t afford to
be late.
We must race to the forefront; let other
states wait.
High expectations are back in fashion again.
“Hail to our boldness! Can we get an amen?!
The answer is simple. We’ve discovered the
Grail.
Yet in order to grasp it, most children must
fail.”
But New York parents from each hamlet and
region
Began to question SED’s rhyme and
reason.
Teachers and principals also were
worried;
They knew very well the “reform” had been
hurried.
Lofty goals had been set—wrapped in gold
platitudes
“Overcome inequities; reach high
latitudes.”
Who’d dare to attack that—why, you might as
well try
To take arms against motherhood and apple
pie.
But launching the Core would require much
testing
Which took place in April. And things got
interesting.
We were warned that kids would be frustrated
and fret.
To the State that made sense, not a cause
for regret.
For they needed some measure to anchor the
Core,
No matter how poor the tests or how low the
score.
But the exams were so bad—much worse than
they’d dreamed,
Items so difficult, teachers silently
screamed.
Children couldn’t finish them; many even
cried.
Parents said enough this time, and protests
grew wide.
King and Walcott assured them: “You don’t
understand.
A thirty percent drop in scores—Just what
we’d planned.
We now have a baseline from which we can
grow.
Going Down is the New Up. Why, didn’t you know!”
But if tests were the answer one question
remained
Where were all the resources to get teachers
trained?
To give students a chance of meeting Core
standards
The public rose up. Explanations demanded.
Tisch and King had to leave their Albany
palace
And hear how we felt ‘bout their Common Core
Chalice.
“How dare you set children up as pawns to
knock down?
This isn’t some board game and you aren’t
the Crown!”
King heard it straight from parents at his
first forum.
Teachers spoke up too. He cringed. It lacked decorum.
Syracuse and Poughkeepsie—feelings running
strong;
Eastport roared the many ways the Core was
wrong.
Got so hot, King lost his cool; the jeers
upset him.
Saw soccer moms and special ops out there to
get him.
“That’s it.” he said. “It’s too real. Time
to change the rules.
Give me crowds who love the Core, not
truth-seeking fools.
‘Specially now, when I’m forced to visit the
City.
Those crowds will be loud and show me no
pity.”
And sure enough in Brooklyn, those allowed
to speak
Each bore an I ♥ Core sign. It truly was
weak:
The sound of Core, Core seemed like cawing
from all rows,
I felt I’m in a cornfield surrounded by
crows.
The next night the City held a much fairer
forum.
Half the crowd taught Tisch and King the
meaning of De-Core’em.
~And so back to the future and
twenty-fourteen.
We’re stronger now and growing and we have a
dream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And my friends, with 2014 upon us, we must hope with
vigilance that the new mayor honors his commitment to a progressive agenda for
the good of all children in the sacred trust of the New York City Public
Schools. We know we must continue to beat back those at all levels who would do
them harm.
Happy Holidays and a Healthy New
Year.
Fred
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