Critical Consciousness – Spirit of Paulo Friere

New Jersey parent and blogger Sarah Blaine (parentingthecore) describes the test rebellion brewing in her state:

“I have been so proud of my state ever since the January 7, 2015 State Board of Education open public comment period. We filled 4 rooms of testimony (in two buildings) that day. Almost 100 people spoke out against the PARCC, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

“Trenton set the spark, and the press jumped on the bandwagon. We’ve had stories (that I’ve seen) about the PARCC refusal movement in The Star Ledger, on CBS News, in The Asbury Park Press, in The Alternative Press, in countless local papers, and the best TV coverage I’ve personally seen is this NJ Public Television/PBS-13 piece from earlier this week (and not just because I am interviewed in it via a terrible Skype connection to my iPad) http://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/legislation-addresses-parcc-test-controvery/ .

“Our Opt Out of State…

Joey J. Cohen is principal of an elementary school in the Patchogue-Medford district in Long Island, New York, an area where parents are up in arms against high-stakes testing.

He wrote the following article and posted it on a school administrators’ blog. For a principal to speak out so forcefully about the misguided policies of the Governor and the Chancellor of the state Board of Regents takes guts. I am happy to place Joey J. Cohen on the blog’s honor roll for supporting public education, as well as the dedicated men and women who educate our nation’s children.

Misguided Direction
An Opinion Piece
By Joey J. Cohen, Ed.D., Principal – Patchogue-Medford School District
The future of education is not just in jeopardy with the current political climate set forth by Governor Cuomo, Chancellor Tisch and former Commissioner King, it is decidedly bleak. I have spent nearly twenty years in…