The Liberal Lion and the Snake in the Grass

Mario Cuomo was our Liberal Lion. He was a governor of the people, all the people.During his 1983 inaugural address he said,

“I believe government’s purpose, basically, is to allow those blessed with talent to go as far as they can on their own. But I believe that government also has an obligation to assist those who, for whatever inscrutable reason, have been left out by fate—the homeless, the infirm, the destitute—to help provide those necessary things which, through no fault of their own, they cannot provide for themselves. Of course, we should have only the government we need. But we must have, and we will insist on, all the government we need.”

Powerful words from our beloved Liberal Lion! During his tenure as our governor he increased spending on education because he knew and insisted that we must have “all the government we need”.

Fast forward to today and we now have his son, Andrew, aka “The Snake in the Grass”. Our miserable Snake in the Grass refuses to fully fund education and he set in place legislation, with Republican help, that makes it virtually impossible for local communities to make up the difference and fully fund their own community schools.

He allows hedge fund billionaires to raid our states most important asset, our schools, by evicting public schools from parts of our community public school buildings.

Our venomous Snake in the Grass, is now holding our necessary state aide hostage until he gets his way. Only a slithering Snake in the Grass would use a funding for children’s programs as a weapon. Even though  one million children live in poverty in his state, he refuses to give children what they need.

Unlike his father, Andrew Cuomo does not believe we must have all the government we need. This Snake in the Grass follows the tune of his campaign donor snake charmers.

The time has come for New York State residents to chop the head off this snake, his venom is poisoning our children’s future.  Contact your local legislator today and demand that they abandon this snake and his ideals.

Duncan’s Line in the Sand

Building anything on sand will lead to an eventual collapse. Sand is constantly shifting and provides little foundational support. Yet legislators often make policy decisions based on the shifting sands of political agendas. So, be wary when policy makers declare they are, “drawing a line in the sand”.  That line will often shift or even disappear due to the winds of political donors and lobbyists.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is about to build upon his education reform agenda and promises to “draw a line in the sand” that will continue abusive high stakes standardized tests in reading and math. Public education in our nation is about to collapse as Duncan’s continues to use tests as a cornerstone of education reform. He just doesn’t understand that when you build anything on sand it is doomed to fail.

Assessing student growth, once provided teachers with the mortar that allowed teachers to build upon lessons that provided what was necessary to help their students grow. Today, assessing student growth, with Common Core tests, has been transformed into a wrecking ball that is destroying teacher’s ability to adapt to the needs of individual students.

Duncan  is about to double down on his wrecking ball strategy as Congress revisits No Child Left Behind (NCLB).   Insisting high stakes tests be performed every year and using these tests to evaluate teachers erodes the foundation of public education in our nation.

I believe standardized tests should be used to drive differentiated instruction for every child in our classrooms. Common Core tests do not do that. They are used to force teachers to get every student walking lock step or else. The or else part is the threat that if a teacher does not get their students marching together in time, then the nation will declare that teacher ineffective and they must be discharged.

I believe teachers should be evaluated every year. The method of these evaluations should be collectively bargained at the local level and the local community should be deciding who should teach their children, not federal or state bureaucrats driven by political agendas.

As Congress revisits NCLB this week, they must abandon the NCLB legislation that was built on sand and is destroying our schools. They must build on the bedrock of our nation, the legacy of our public schools. They must fully fund public education and beat back those who are turning our schools into business ventures.

NCLB, CCSS, and RTTT are nothing more than flimsy acronyms that camouflage the fact that they are policies built on sand. Education should not be a race to the top, our diverse nation is anything but common and our children should not be judged that way, and all children should be allowed to progress individually. Once we get back to those basic principles then we are truly building on firm footing.