This Man Needs to Replace Arne Duncan. YES YES YES.

Forget fancy shoes, glitzy jewelry....my one wish?  I wish Missouri had Robert Scott as Commissioner of Education instead of our commissioner (Chris Nicastro) who supports all the initiatives from Arne Duncan, even though they are unconstitutional, unproven, untested and underfunded.  Scott, Texas Education Commissioner, is taking a stand against Duncan and the DOEd.  From the Washington Post:

.... the state education commissioner, Robert Scott, said the mentality that standardized testing is the “end-all, be-all” is a “perversion” of what a quality education should be. He also called “the assessment and accountability regime” not only “a cottage industry but a military-industrial complex,” and he attacked the Common Core Standards Initiative as being motivated by business concerns.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!!!  He is so on target!  A constitutionalist and realist!  He understands the standards have little to do with education and more to do for businesses to make money off taxpayers and students. How is it that this brave man knows what many bloggers, national writers,  and think tanks are writing about every day with the same conclusion?  Why have other state commissioners been blind to the takeover of education by the Federal Government and allowed to sell out their states' rights to set their state educational standards/assessments?

Scott is brilliant in his stance but be sure to read the readers' comments.  As of this writing, the vast majority are solidly behind Commissioner Scott....and the support of Arne Duncan is quite slight.  Here is a sampling:

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Viva la revolution! Scott has nailed it:
 
"the mentality that standardized testing is the “end-all, be-all” is a “perversion” of what a quality education should be. He also called “the assessment and accountability regime” not only “a cottage industry but a military-industrial complex,” and he attacked the Common Core Standards Initiative as being motivated by business concerns."

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Hip hip hooray! Excitement is roused in my soul. I yield to Jefferson:

"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."

http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/little-re...

I imagine that the following quotes could also relate to the collective institution of K-12 education and the perversion of this institution that we presently witness in regard to the testing mania:

"This institution [University of Virginia] will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it."
- Thomas Jefferson to William Roscoe, 27 December 1820[1]

"They [common-place books] were written at a time of life when I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to what-ever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way."
- Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Thomas Cooper, 10 February 1814[2]

http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/follow-tr...

Cambridge Dictionary definition of beard, as in bearding above -- "to face, meet or deal with an unpleasant or frightening person in a brave or determined way”

Alas, some brave superintendents and Robert Scott bearding the authorities who churn out yet more decrees to deliver mind numbing tests (and prep) to our children in seemingly endless succession. Carry on.

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Yes, there are tests. I give the occasional quiz or test to my students. I also assess homework, projects, and classwork. That gives me a truer picture of their progress than our yearly state tests. My students come from many different countries, and for those who get ot THAT soapbox, they are here legally. They are still learning English, so the standardized tests that we give don't give a true picture of what they know. I challenge all those on the testing bandwagon to move to a foreign country and attempt to take a test in a new language.

Teachers don't mind being evaluated, it's the type of evaluation that is the problem. Children are individuals, not products that are easily compared. I have seen such a narrowing of what we are able to teach. Real, meaningful learning opportunities are lost because we have to teach children to fill in bubbles instead of teaching them how to think creatively or how to problem solve.

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Do we dare dream the tide is turning against the federal nationalization of education?  Can we ever hope to be delivered from data driven education?  Can we kiss Arne Duncan goodbye, if not now, in November 2012?  Can we nominate Robert Scott to assume a position (Secretary of the DOEd) with decreasing importance and power?