Democracy is a Process

The kids and I drove down to the State Capitol today for a House Education Committee Hearing on a bill regarding state testing and assessment. We were affiliated with a group called SPEAK  (Supportive Parents, Educators and Kids) for Cherry Creek, as Cherry Creek School District is our home district. It took me a few months to warm up to this new legislative effort, not because of a lack of merit but because I am so much more careful with my time and energy since my illness. What convinced me to get on board with the group - and to be active - was the fact that our state faces an unfunded mandate in testing. Colorado voted to adopt the PARCC test (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) http://www.parcconline.org/as our yearly assessment, and it moves us from a fill-the-bubble test to a computerized test, graded by algorithms. It might be the future to take tests on computers, but if the school districts have to foot the bill for innovation they may well go bankrupt.

Our school district has spent $10 million trying to ramp up equipment and professional expertise to take on the new test, which is scheduled to begin in the 2014 - 2015 school year. We have received only $290,000 from the state of Colorado - and let me assure you, the CCSD did not have $10 million in loose change just lying around. Rural districts are in even worse shape. Those districts that don't have working computers (or functioning facilities and current text books) are not going to be able to institute PARCC. They will not qualify for certain funds that are tied to the assessment and they may fall even further behind. Our district, which has fought to be fiscally stable and passed two bond issues in the past six years, is still going to lose teachers, para-educators, and elective opportunities for students if the heavy financial burden of the test comes to rest on its shoulders.

If you're interested in the work of SPEAK for Cherry Creek, check out its Facebook page, or email me and I can put you in touch with the parents who are volunteering their time to do this work. SPEAK is asking for: Colorado to withdraw from PARCC, a 3-year moratorium on high-stakes testing, a true cost-benefit analysis of the pertinent legislative reforms, and an option for parents to 'opt out,' among other things. I'll keep you posted on our progress.