Adding Tests and Stirring The Conversation: A Panel on Reform @FairfieldU with Expert Panelists

On March 31st, Dr. Robert Hannafin, Dean of Graduate School and Allied Professions at Fairfield University, hosted a panel of experts to discuss education reform in Connecticut and the complicated issues surrounding Common Core State Standards, funding equities, charter schools, and other pressures facing public school districts and their teachers. The two hour program fostered the opportunity to hear angles on reform from a superintendent, a lawyer, a politician/blogger, and an academic/activist/ teacher. I'm using this space to capture insights channeled through my prism of perspective (Appleman, 2009) of the event.

Dr. Robert Hannafin - Questioning the Miracles 

Dr. Hannafin opened the occasion with dialogue about the current state of education reforms, including language of miraculous reforms that have been controversial and contentious in a number of states for multiple reasons. He stated the panelists would each have 15 minutes and there'd be time for questions at the end of their presentations.

Thomas Scarice, Superintendent of Madison School District - "When The Epiphany of Dehumanizing Instruction Arrived."

Mr. Scarice, who has become a champion for public schools, offered a story for why his platform has evolved in a stance that stands up for teachers and students. His narrative highlighted the moment he realized that educational reform positioned his students as only numbers, rather than individuals, and how this pro-data, pro-testing, and pro-accountability belief was counterproductive to learning. It was during in a prep-session for students enrolled in special education that his a-ha moment occurred. He was a school principal at the time and found himself conflicted between a stance that students needed to be pushed to reach a plateau they weren't currently capable of reaching and the immense pressure to prove he could accomplish such achievement - a premise that, he feels, has led to national cheating. While working with these kids, he disliked viewing his students only as a number, and wondered why he couldn't encourage them as unique learners and engage them in the worlds they live, experience, and contend with everyday. In summary, he felt like a fraud - becoming a pusher of assessment rather than an educator to advance the potential of each of his students. At a moment he was working with a student as a test taker, rather than a lifelong learner, he found himself asking, "What have I become?" As a district leader, he has since chosen to speak up for students and teachers on a quest to do "the right work" for those who work and are enrolled in his schools.

Wendy Lecker, Senior Attorney at the Education Law Center and Columnist for Hearst Connecticut Media Group - "Community Stressors, including poverty, are real - courts side with teachers and students"

Wendy Lecker, who writes often in Connecticut press, brought to the forum a history of court decisions, state by state, and examples where legislation was passed, but funding promised by the legislation was not provided. As more is demanded of public school educators, states have not fulfilled their obligation to finance reform initiatives in public schools. Emotional and social supports to help public school teachers, for example, have been first to go as districts make financial decisions from budget cuts. Politically, the "schools in crisis" myth creates a state of fear and panic that benefits private interests. "A good public education is an American right and instrumental to a democracy," she stated, yet the lack of funding to support schools to address the "crisis" has hindered them from meeting the challenges public schools face. The current trend is to 'experiment'  with reforms that are unproven, which she argues is a "violation of student rights." This trend also results in the shifting of traditional public school funding into the pockets of private interests. Although laws at the state level have been created to properly fund public schools, the allocation of resources have not met the politics.  "Connecticut has the funding, but the choice for where this money goes has not reached the hands of public schools who desperately need support for the work that they do." 

Johnathan Pelto, Communications Strategist, Politician, and Blogger - "Education Industrial Complexes Are Resegregating Connecticut Schools"

Johnathan Pelto, whose daily blogging is cherished by many public school teachers and parents,  continued the dialogue with graphs and charts outlining ways that private companies have benefited from public dollars, distorting the original intent of public schools in a way where the schooling enterprises are not responsible to a board of education; rather, they report to their own boards. There are good charters and bad charters, just like their are good public schools and bad public schools. What has changed, he expressed, is that there is a 500 billion dollar untapped market in the educational sector. An established "state of fear" that public schools aren't succeeding, resulted in corporate interests to profit through an alignment of standards, tests, Teach For America, and several charter industries. CEOs of charter organizations are well-compensated under the ways they manage student populations. During the Malloy legislation, too, there's a 28% proposed increase for funding such schools, even when records show they tend not to work with English language learners, students receiving special education services, or students with behavioral issues. These students are returned to traditional public schools and the allocation of funding for such students dramatically decreases upon departure. Those who attend charters receive more dollars per student.  Typically, too, teachers who work for charters do not have the same professional training, do not last in the profession as long, and are forbidden to unionize. Parents and students lose democratic rights within such schools, as well.

Dr. Yohuru Williams, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at Fairfield University, Teacher, and Activist - "The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions, but Corporate Reforms Are Inequitable as They Re-segregate Racially"

Dr. Yohuru Williams, who publishes columns in the Huffington Post, drew from the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King and provided insight of the legend's writing to make connections with 21st century reform policies - education is the civil rights issue of our time. Many of the reforms violate civil liberties and laws that Dr. King fought for. Decisions made by political leaders to put public funding into the hands of organizations who aren't held accountable to the public interest and democracy of traditional public schools are racist and classist.

As I engage in the so-called "bull sessions" around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the "brethren" think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.

Education is a democratic right, but current reforms do not embrace "reason" or "morals." The recent opt-out movements popping up across the nation are the seeds of revolution where parents and teachers are standing up for the reform paradigm that is being forced upon them. There's a need to fight for public schools because it's important to the "American D.N.A. - Dreams, nurture, and action." Current reform efforts are relocating "brown" bodies in laboratory experiments under the guise of social justice and civil rights, re-oppressing the very communities in which they claim to "be saving."  There has not been integrity, transparency, or honesty in current reforms; rather, there's been an exploitation of public funding for private interests.

Questions and Answers

The audience continued the dialogue for an hour after the presentations, where multiple perspectives were shared and varying viewpoints were offered. Many of the teachers in the audience, both pre-service and in-service, wondered what they were to do next, especially as the 'state of fear' has ostracized their voices within the careers they've chosen for themselves. Many felt forced into silence and kept them from being the professional educators they were trained to be. Reforms have caused public school districts to lay off support staff, coaches, and instructional leaders - while more demands are placed on them, they are given less to help them educate Connecticut's youth, as Lecker pointed out. 

Obviously, a blog post such as this can only touch upon some of the framework offered by these panelists. This account of the evening is also subjected to the notes I took. In summary,  the well-attended audience expressed they were frustrated and perplexed. They are looking for a solution for teaching Connecticut youth, and the adoption of CCSS, the current testing requirements, and the lack of professional support is detrimental to their schools. 

Dr. Williams in his 15-minute presentation pointed out, "It is the poverty" that causes the tremendous achievement gaps across the nation. It is this poverty that is rooted in history, colonization, post-colonization, and 21st century politics, too, that continues to cause social ills of today. What's new, however, is the ways some are profiting in big ways off impoverished communities and public education in the name civil rights. 

This, I feel, united the four speakers in their talk.

Appleman, D. (2009).  Critical Encounters in High School English; Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.