Education is NOT a Business

     When third grade students are throwing up prior to their reading test, there is something wrong.  With the high-stakes testing environment, our students, teachers, and administrators are feeling incredible pressure. With the quantitative measurement of TLE being added next year, we might see faculty and administrators joining those 3rd graders in the bathroom to toss their lunch.
     Anyone think this is too much stress for an already high stakes job even if you discount testing.  Seriously, if you think about it - which we do often - our teachers are tasked with teaching the future leaders of our country.  Do we want cookie-cutter leaders?  Do we want cookie-cutter doctors?  Do we want cookie-cutter teachers?  If not, then why do we want cookie-cutter students.  I say this in response to the 3rd grade RSA.  There is plenty of research out there to show students learn at different rates, in different ways, and in different context.  Why do we expect 8 - 9 year-olds to all be ready to read at the same time?  What research supports that?  Even in high school, students who do not pass and EOI test are allowed to continue to retake the test until they do pass.  If they don't ever pass the test, they are offered alternative ways to show their proficiency in that testing area.  However, for 3rd graders, we are expecting a specific level, at a specific time, or the student will be held back.
     Again, where is the research to prove this is the way to go?  The 3rd grade RSA can actually cause worse problems down the road.  Let's take a hypothetical student who doesn't pass the 3rd grade RSA two years in a row.  That student will now be 19 or 20 as a senior depending on the month of his/her birth.  Now, that is just from the 3rd grade RSA.  Should that student hit any other obstacle in their educational career, they are now 20-21 when they graduate.  They are now pushing the maximum limit of time allowed by law to be in school.  Additionally, we will have many 19-21 year-olds in high school with 15 year-olds.  I can testify, as a secondary teacher, this is not a good thing.
     Some might say these older students have the opportunity to go into an alternative school setting.  Coming from an inter-city school district, this is not the best educational opportunity - it is an alternative educational opportunity.  These students would be less likely to succeed in that setting than in a regular high school.  In addition, the inner-city alternative schools are already bursting at the seems with students, so many students who need to be in that setting are already turned away.  How then, will they be prepared for an influx of future students?
     My concern is that we are allowing non-educators to run education.  Education is not a business.  There is not one perfect model to follow for student learning success.  Each student is different from another.  Our teachers are tasked with teaching students using differentiation, collaboration, RtI, remediation, literacy skills in all disciplines, and making sure their test scores are acceptable in order to have a decent evaluation.  How in the world can you do that in one, two, or even three models (just as business has their models).  There is no step by step process.  What worked last year may not work this year with these students.  This is why allowing legislators alone to lead our education system is ludicrous!
    Can anyone explain to me why those in education are not the ones drafting legislation for education in our state?  Why do our legislators not consult the PROFESSIONALS in education - our teachers, our administrators - when drafting bills that affect education?  Why does our voting public allow such things?  I'm sure if a group of people who knew nothing about oil decided to make laws regarding the big business, big money oil company, this would NOT be allowed.  However, the public AND educators have just stepped aside and allowed those who are not in education to determine what will be required of those in education.
     As educators, we must become a loud voice and active participants in the legislative process.  We must share our stories with our legislators.  We must take back our profession from those who are not educated in education.  I'm not saying we shouldn't test our students; I'm not saying we shouldn't hold teachers accountable to student success in some way; I am saying educators must have a voice in what is mandated by law for those in education.