EdAction
Maple River Education Coalition PAC
105 Peavey Rd, St 116 
Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931
http://www.EdAction.org
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Behind the scenes at the Capitol

Activity is hopping at the Capitol and YOU are making a difference.  A few strong legislators stepped up to the plate on the Basic Skills Writing Tests fiasco, and you are providing the support and encouragement they need.  Bravo!  Keep it up.

Many legislators are dragging their feet about signing onto some very good bill proposals regarding School-to-Work, the Profile of Learning and Education Freedom and Opportunity.  As a result, we still have NO BILL NUMBERS.

Behind-the-scenes maneuvering goes like this:

"Why get involved in anything controversial this session, just before the Fall 2000 elections when every House and Senate seat is up?  Let's play it safe, no bill, no hearing, no controversy.  Many legislators took a good vote last session to eliminate the Profile.  Too bad the Senate stopped it, but, hey, we did our part."

Meanwhile, while voting to eliminate the Profile, the House was funding the Profile and STW hand over fist, unbeknownst to us, the parents, teachers and other citizens.  Are we being patronized?

Citizenship in Education Day — What should you do? 

Feb 2nd at the Capitol our information tables will have summaries of bills we have agreed to support. 

YOUR job is to bring these to your legislators and to the House and Senate leadership personally and get them to sign on.  If they are unwilling, come back with more of their constituents, again and again and again.  Then don't vote for them if they are unresponsive.  Voting is the political power citizens have in a free nation.  If we will not use, we will not be free.

We ESPECIALLY need Senate authors.  If legislators will drag their feet to avoid controversy, then foot-dragging must become the controversy!! We caution you to be polite but firm.  Whether you know it or not, each one of you reflects on the entire effort statewide.

Your work is key to instilling legislative will into our state senators and representatives.  Without your work, it will not happen.

Remember: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Come and go or stay all day.  Pep talks will begin every hour.  Bring your whole neighborhood.

The NEWS blackout continues —

Surely you all have noted the reluctance of the news media to do justice to substantively reporting the education juggernaut that is upon us. There is a practical reason for this.  Both the major Minnesota newspapers have been granted a huge financial stake in this system, both papers directly driving the curriculum of the classroom.  One paper gets to supply the curriculum for the Basic Skills Tests and the other does the curriculum packages for the career clusters that elementary & secondary students use.  They are major financial stakeholders.  Will these private newspapers be likely to report resistance to this system in a nonbiased manner?

Here is a letter we received:

Dear MrEdCo,

Only one Twin Cities radio station has announced the results of the State of the State 2000 Standards Testing completed by the Fordham Foundation this year.

Minnesota's final grade was upgraded to a D-.  All subjects got a grade of F except science which received an A.  To no one's surprise, this information was not published in any of the newspapers or other media.

I feel that this information is important, and that MrEdCo should at least let the members know about these recent ratings.

Web site is:   http://edexcellence.net

Who Wants to Know?
Submitted to the Star Tribune

To the Editor:

While I agree that discovery and constructive self-criticism are valuable teaching tools, this question was not asked by a teacher in the context of an essay; it was asked by the state bureaucracy in a coercive setting.  The problem lies, not with the question, but with the questioner and the context.

The question's context leads the student to believe that their trusted teacher is asking, and will be the one evaluating their answer.  That is not true; The question is being asked by the education bureaucracy, and they will be the ones evaluating it.  The local teacher won't even be allowed to see the answers, much less give constructive, situationally appropriate, and culturally sensitive feedback to the student.  Furthermore, not answering is not an option, nor is the student given adequate time to think over who will be seeing this information, or how much detail to give.

The state should not collect psychographic information on our students under the guise of a state standards test, especially if that collection involves concealing the identity of the person seeking the information.

Sincerely,

Kevin Houston
Libertarian Candidate for Congress 2000, District 5

Another moving letter to share with you:

Dear Maple River Education Coalition:

How about researching the mental anguish placed on teachers required to proctor the writing test.  Get a hold of the copy of state directives given to teachers who were required to be trained for proctoring the writing test.  We were threatened with losing our teaching licenses if we did not administer the test using the guidelines presented.  My professionalism was insulted and I certainly felt uneasy.  My heart certainly bled also, for the student who wrote that his cancer would be one thing he would like changed. Forced mental intrusion not only on students, but teachers as well.

EdAction - 105 Peavey Rd, Ste 116, Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931 - edaction@lakes.com - (c) EdAction - All rights reserved.