Oakland Education Association Endorses Educator Roundtable’s Drive to Dismantle NCLB
The Oakland Education Association executive board unanimously passed a motion to support and publicize the Educator Roundtable anti-NCLB Petition on March 20.
The Educator Roundtable is pleased to announce its new partnership with the Oakland Education Association. The OEA’s principled stand against NCLB may be the beginning of a grassroots movement inside the California Teachers Association (CTA), the California affiliate of the nation’s largest union, the National Education Association (NEA).
Above: High school teachers Jack Gerson (an Oakland Education Association executive board member) and Steven Miller spoke at the Educator Roundtable conference in Atlanta on March 17 of the decimation of their schools by state takeovers and corporate influence. (Substance photo by Sharon Schmidt).NEA leadership seeks to modify NCLB, but the OEA believes more is needed.
OEA supports federal funding for public education, but insists that it be without NCLB’s punitive measures, emphasis on high stakes testing, and embrace of privatization and profiteering.
As a result of all three of the above, NCLB has decimated inner city schools, caused wholesale school closures that qualitatively increase instability in inner city areas, and hit hardest at poor and minority schools, students and families.
OEA says that removal of these sanctions is a prerequisite for real improvement and achievement in our nation’s public schools.
“At the same time that public schools are being shut down, our school district is approving new charter schools. There are now more than 31 charter schools in Oakland. People in Oakland see this as a takeover. Schools that were anchors in their neighbor- hoods are shutting down, increasing the instability in those neighborhoods,” explains OEA executive board member Jack Gerson.
There is no evidence supporting the claim that “charter schools” educate any better than public schools, nor is there any research supporting NCLB’s requirement that schools use supplemental educational services. There is plenty of evidence showing that NCLB has forced thousands of school districts across the country to outsource public education.
Oakland is not alone. In California 700 schools face restructuring this year.
In recent days, CTA locals in San Diego, Hollister and Kings/Tulare counties have taken stands similar to Oakland’s.
Oakland is the first local teacher’s union to publicly endorse the Educator Roundtable’s position. We are confident more will soon follow. The Educator Roundtable seeks to replace NCLB with more democratic models of educational reform.
Summary of the OEA Motion:
Motion (Jack Gerson) on Supporting and Publicizing the Educator Roundtable anti-NCLB Petition (to OEA Executive Board meeting — March 20, 2007). Passed unanimously.
OEA supports federal funding of public education and supports passage of ESEA legislation without the NCLB punitive measures, emphasis on high stakes testing, and embrace of privatization and profiteering. OEA specifically opposes NCLB’s imposition of punitive measures that have decimated conditions in inner city schools, caused wholesale school closures that qualitatively increase instability in inner city areas, created opportunities for charter schools, and hit hardest at poor and minority schools, students and families.
We also oppose NCLB’s emphasis on high stakes testing, which has led to harmful and dangerous pseudo-educational practices (e.g., teaching to the test; scripted learning; narrowly focusing on rote learning of two subjects [reading and arithmetic] to the exclusion of electives like music and art and even of history and foreign languages).
Finally, we oppose NCLB’s promotion of privatization and profiteering in public education (e.g., outsourcing of tutoring to private companies is mandatory for Program Improvement schools).
All of these have led us dangerously down the road to destruction of public education. Removal of these sanctions is a prerequisite for real improvement and achievement in our nation’s public schools.
Therefore, and in the above context:
(1) The OEA Executive Board supports the Educator Roundtable anti-NCLB petition. Such support will include:
(a) a public endorsement (including giving Educator Roundtable permission to cite this endorsement, e.g. on its web site);
(b) organizing support for the petition inside CTA, including contacting and working with other CTA locals to build such support.
(2) The OEA Executive board supports Educator Roundtable’s proposal to focus on Oakland as a clear example of the adverse effect NCLB/high-stakes testing has on inner city schools and kids, and welcomes Educator Roundtable’s offer to assist OEA in organizing a publicity campaign against NCLB ( e.g., helping with press releases, op ed pieces, videos).
