Something I care passionately about

I watch politics. I keep somewhat abreast of what is going on. I care about it...but I am not often moved to become vocal about politics.
One of the students in the gifted education class I am teaching posted a link to the documentary Race to Nowhere. I have not seen the documentary, but I did watch the trailer for it. Between that, things that I heard at the recent conference I went to, and just my general feelings as I have learned more working on my doctorate I was moved to use the White House website to send a letter. I do not know if it will make a difference, but at least I have sent it.
Here is the text of what I sent. I would have said more, but you are limited in the number of characters you can submit through the website.

It is on my heart to write to you about our education system. We need to stop ignoring differences and treating children as if they are widgets. We cannot do “X” with a child and always get “Y;” as you would with a computer or a machine.

Teachers are not the only reason that children fall behind. Research has shown that not all children reach developmental milestones at the same time. Parents impact their children… when will parents be held accountable? Will parents have their children removed from them because the child is not performing at grade level? Politicians are willing to tell school systems and teachers what to do…but if children are not performing as expected will politicians’ pay suffer?

If we are truly going to make a difference, then we need to fundamentally change our antiquated education system. Stop using tests that were meant to measure whether a child was performing at his or her potential as measures of teacher success. Why must our education system still place children in a grade level based on age and not readiness? Why must we count credits for graduation when some children demonstrate proficiency well before their senior year and others would not reach it until well into their twenties?

I realize that society demands a minimum mastery standard for each student to reach. However, we are creating a society where convergent answers are what is expected. I do not personally know of anyone who makes his or her living from taking multiple choice tests.

I also hope that everyone, including my doctor, my lawyer, my plumber, my mechanic, and my child’s teacher, can problem solve and innovate within their field of knowledge. We are losing the creative productivity that helped to make this nation great…and which has a greater relationship to success as an adult then scores on a standardized test.

I also wonder if some of our financial woes might have been due to a decrease in emphasis on teaching responsible citizenship. If the leaders of our big businesses are more worried about their bottom line then about whether their employees are making a living wage or whether their product is killing people, then why would an intelligent society choose them as leaders?

I am both a teacher and a parent. I care deeply about our education system. Frankly, I wonder why anyone would go in to education at this point in history, and I am scared that my children will lose their creativity and imagination as they progress through public education.