Standing Together 4 Strong Community Schools

"We believe that local control along with engagement from parents, community members and businesses to be the foundation of success for each county in Tennessee." ~ StrongCommunitySchools.com

As a proponent of public education and a parent of a student in public education for 15 years (special education beginning with preschool,) I support "Standing Together for Strong Community Schools (ST4SCS,)  a grass-roots, nonpartisan coalition of parents, community members, businesses and their owners who value public education and are committed to strengthening and protecting Tennessee’s public schools."

I am relieved that after my daughter exits the local school system in three years--when she has completed her community based (job and life-skills training) education program for students with disAbilities--we will be finished with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). I believe the root of our poor, local system stems from our city's historic massive white flight to Williamson County and the creation of 60 private schools, many parochial. I wish that MNPS had a tenth of what Harpeth Hall, Montgomery Bell and Ensworth has invested in their gorgeous state-of-the-art infrastructures alone. I believe that families need options and if private is their choice, that is fine, but this extreme segregation of resources of all kinds has cost our city and its schools dearly. And, just because my daughter will exit the system does not mean we will not continue to be impacted by it. Like all citizens, our future is in the quality of education of its students-- those who will become service workers, professionals and healthcare workers, etc.

Frankly, the shit is about to hit the fan in our extreme conservative-dominated state legislature. Here's more from ST4SCS, but please note the two boldfaced items listed near the bottom of this "Journey with Grace" post. We, the citizens of Tennessee, are about to lose local control if our legislators and their special interests succeed:

 "For too long, discussion of public education in Tennessee has been dominated by negativity and manipulated by well-funded special interests intent on dismantling our school systems, diverting public money from public schools, and limiting the voice of Tennessee citizens in shaping education policy through our local elected school boards. It is time for those who value and appreciate public education in Tennessee to celebrate our successes, become more informed on the various challenges our public schools face today, share ideas on supporting and improving our schools, and join forces to speak up on laws that impact our schools.

"We want improvement in Tennessee schools driven by the voices of Tennessee parents and citizens, not by the out of state special interests that poured over $250,000 into our last election cycle to advance their agenda. Two legislative ideas already being discussed for 2013 will negatively affect the stability and strength of our schools:

"1) A statewide charter school authorizer

"2) Diverting tax dollars to private schools through vouchers"

You can learn more via the ST4SCS website, StrongCommunitySchools.com and also please "like" their page on Facebook: facebook.com/StrongCommunitySchools

Comments

[Leisa A. Hammett]

Thank you, Chelle, for your warrior passion on this issue, and you, too, Joan. Joan, I have been a democratic party activist since I was 24, when I became a magazine and news wire reporter for a North American social services agency. It was in that position that I realized I needed to put my faith and political beliefs and abilities into action. It is always about more than me/just us. What happens to one, happens to all.

[chelle baldwin]

Joancgrim we are aware of SCORE and its unspoken agenda. We would love for you to help us get as many people as possible to become aware of the agenda of StudentsFirst, Gov. Haslam, Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman, Speaker Beth Harwell and many of the legislators. If the legislators from our area and all the other counties don't hear from constituents speaking out against State Charter Authorizer and Vouchers they won't hesitate to pass it. Please share our site and FB page and help us get the word out. As a mother of a child with Autism I thank you for for caring about our children and dedicating your career to helping them.

[Joancgrim]

Lisa,
I am thrilled to know you, as a parent of a child with autism, are involved in this assault on our children's civil rights masquerading as education "reform." I was a special education teacher for 23 years. I worked with and advocated for my students in concert with parents to guarantee my school system gave our children a fair chance to an education.

The groundwork that established a Free Appropriate Public Education was achieved by the hard work of small groups of parents, like you, who brought us 94-142 (now IDEA) in 1975. We've worked for 40+ years to gain equality for children with disabilities, only to have corporate edu-reformers, state legislators, TN dept of ed, and wealthy dilettantes disregard equality.

I am horrified to see TN institutionalizing the use of invalid test metrics on children. Metrics that are misused to sort children into winners and losers. Metrics that charter schools use to exclude "undesirables". Metrics that justify funneling millions of our tax dollars over to for-profit third party EMOs. Metrics that are shaping an educational caste system. Business is booming for everyone but our children.

Are you familiar with SCORE?http://www.tnscore.org/
If not, I suggest you become familiar with this group. They are allegedly an independent organization tasked with overseeing TN education Race to the Top mandates. They posit parent engagement, rigor, and high standards to transform inner city schools. Saving poor kids and all of that. Their CEO is Jamie Woodson, ex Tn Senator. They have an inordinate amount of clout with the state dept of Ed, in the legislature and in the gov. office. They twist themselves into knots to justify whatever education phrenology the edu-reform mogul class desires.

However, occasionally the truth of their mission slips out. When Woodson was asked by a teacher about SCORE's position on children who are struggling to meet the increasingly difficult standards and the inhumane amount of failure children with SPED experienced, Woodson replied they were NOT going to spend money on "those" children. There you have it.