End of Year

It’s that time of year when we start seeing end of year lists in review. We become inundated with lists of everything from soup to nuts. Especially nuts this year!

Here is my list of questions,  still unanswered, as 2014 comes to a close. Feel free to provide an answer if you can or pass them along.

1. Why are graduation rates at historic levels ( high school, college and post secondary) if our public schools are failing?
2. The stock market is at an all-time high, so why are public schools underfunded?
3. In New York State and many other states, property values are driven by the quality of the school district, so why is Governor Cuomo tying the hands of local communities to fully fund their local schools?
4. New York State is no longer in financial trouble, so why does Governor Cuomo continue to use a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” scheme ( Gap Elimination Adjustment) that robs public schools of budgeted school aid?
5. Why is New York State funding schools below 2009 levels while giving tax breaks to casinos?
6. Where is the evidence that Common Core State Standards are age appropriate?
7. Just what does the term “college and career ready” really mean. Especially when it is used to assess kindergarten through 6^th grade children?
8. Why does the New York State Education Chancellor and Governor Cuomo continue to state that our teachers are failing students when 93.8% of all high school graduates ( excluding NYC) are earning a ‘Regent’s Diploma”?
9. Where is the evidence to support the underlying requirement of the Common Core that all students should be at the same level of understanding at the same time?
10. Where is the research that supports the current practice of having elementary age children take hour upon hour of tests to measure teacher, administration, and district effectiveness as well as their own level of understanding?
11. Why is it acceptable to dismantle and hand over our communities’ most important assets ( our schools) to private entrepreneurs?
12. Why do our legislators do so little for the social needs of our communities while at the same time blaming our schools?
13. How do states justify reducing the number of teachers while at the same time proclaim all students deserve a good education?
14. Why have our public school teachers become the nation’s scapegoat for poor public policy?
15. Why are special needs children being denied special education services?
16. Just where is the evidence that supports the ideal that Charlotte Danielson and her contrived rubric should be the standard for teacher evaluation?
17. Why are teachers’ unions unfairly labeled when the evidence shows that where they exist student achievement is higher?
18. Why has President Obama been silent on high stakes testing since his State of the Union 2 years ago when he said testing should be limited?
19. When will states be up front and honest and inform their residents that Lotteries do not increase funding for schools?
20. When will all public sector unions join together and demand in a collective voice, “workers’ rights, pay, benefits and pensions for all”?