#reclaimit
Principals and teachers who recently administered Pearson-developed Common Core-related tests in New York have asserted that they are barred from speaking about the test content and its implications for student success because of “gag orders” written into the testing contracts.
These gag orders and the lack of transparency are fueling the growing distrust and backlash among parents, students and educators in the United States about whether the current testing protocols and testing fixation are in the best interests of children.
Congratulations to the JetBlue airline pilots who overwhelmingly voted to join the Airline Pilots Association! Union YES!
University of Illinois-Chicago faculty began a two day strike on Tuesday, February 18th. You can show solidarity here: http://bit.ly/1m7rMEK
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a corporate-funded lobbying group that brings corporations and state legislators together to vote behind closed doors on “model” legislation without any public input. It’s basically Match.com for corporations and the legislators they want to woo.
And while ALEC claims that its education mission is to “promote excellence in the nation’s educational system,” its “model” legislation advocates for policies that defund public services, distort the curriculum and undercut our educators.
It’s time to stand up to ALEC and the damage it is trying to do to public education and our communities. Write your legislators now.
How is ALEC trying to destroy public education, you ask? It advocates for policies that would:
- Increase the use of vouchers and tuition tax credits that sap money from public schools and send it to private and charter schools.
- Establish funding of public virtual schools at the same per-pupil rate as brick-and-mortar schools, despite lower operating costs for virtual schools, with the difference in payments going as profits to the companies that provide these services.
- Require the teaching of anti-scientific, pro-corporate information about climate change.
- Limit college professors' ability to engage in open and honest discussion.
- Roll back the collective bargaining rights of teachers.
ALEC and its corporate “reforms” have no business in education. Tell your state legislators to reject ALEC and send the group packing.
ALEC is not working to reclaim the promise of public education. It supports a series of policy options that would devastate public schools, hurt students and teachers, and move us further and further in the direction of school privatization. ALEC doesn’t love us—it loves padding the profit margins of its corporate members. This Valentine’s Day, urge your legislators to break up with ALEC.
Here’s the list that Buzzfeed didn’t want to you see.
The American Legislative Exchange Council is a secretive group, backed by large corporations, that writes model legislation. ALEC’s report card on education cites the results of the Program for International Student Assessment comparisons of education performance as a “crisis.” But ALEC’s model legislation systematically ignores the lessons that higher-performing nations have for the United States. As outlined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which conducts the PISA study:
1. ALEC proposals decrease funding for schools
ALEC model bills divert tax dollars to private schools and reduce funding for public services.

World Comparison: Wrong Direction
Since the beginning of the economic crisis, U.S. education spending is down 1 percent, while education spending in OECD countries is up 5 percent. We should not be shifting money from public schools to private schools.
2. ALEC proposals assume teachers and unions are the problem
ALEC has proposed bills to limit teachers’ ability to collectively bargain.

World Comparison: Wrong Direction
Top-performing countries like Japan and Finland have strong teachers unions. In fact, the body that administers the international PISA tests (the OECD) recommends working with unions rather than attacking them.
3. ALEC proposals push “school choice” and for-profit schools
ALEC bills include legislation for vouchers and online schools.

World Comparison: Wrong Direction
Top performing countries have strong PUBLIC systems. The OECD recommends ensuring that school choice programs do not become a back door for resegregation based on race or income.
4. ALEC policies close down schools
ALEC has proposals to close down and “turn around” schools, sometimes by bringing in “special management” to run them.

World Comparison: Wrong Direction
Closing schools has a terrible effect on students and can destabilize communities. The OECD recommends directing resources to the students with the greatest needs and providing a wide curriculum and educational alternatives to prevent dropouts.
5. ALEC has proposed creating a STEM (science, technology, education and math) education subcommittee with oil companies as members
Exxon, BP and Shell Oil were invited to serve as private sector members on the subcommittee. ALEC legislation already includes bills that would require teaching of corporate perspectives on climate change.

World Comparison: Wrong Direction
Rather than letting corporations make laboratories of our schools, countries that outperform us, like Canada, put money into encouraging local experimentation and innovation. This is recommended by the OECD.
6. ALEC proposals make poverty worse
ALEC opposes increases to the minimum wage. ALEC also has a model bill that prohibits states from providing Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program services to children and families if those services surpass federal minimum requirements.

World Comparison: Wrong Direction
Many top-performing countries have a strong social safety net. Poverty has real effects on student achievement; if you control for poverty, you’ll see U.S. students actually outperform nearly every other country.
7. ALEC policies promote more testing and competition
In an effort to push “accountability” for teachers and staff, ALEC pushes more high- stakes standardized testing and competition among schools.

World Comparison: Wrong Direction
The highest-performing nations understand that an emphasis on outcomes has to be combined with policies that build support for teachers and staff, and help them work together.





