** “The U.S. education policy world–the entire country, for that matter–is on a quest to increase the ranks of future innovators in science and technology. Yet the programs that get funded in K-12 education do not support students who are already good at and in love with science. These students have potential for outstanding contributions, but without public investment they will not be prepared for the rigors of a scientific career. This is especially true for those without highly educated and resource-rich parents.” ~ Rena F. Subotnick, et al, Scientific American
** “Teachers, administrators, and school boards in the United States today are buried under a heavy stone block of mandates and laws. Politicians, hedge fund managers, and heirs to big-box retailing fortunes are telling educators how to create ‘world class’ schools–but their vision of ‘world class’ appears to mean chiefly high test scores and questionable notions of economic competitiveness. These same influential people are silent abut creating schools designed to give children the values, knowledge, and motivation that will enable them to form positive relationships, maintain a healthy lifestyle, participate actively in our democracy, and pursue occupations that reward them not just financially, but also spiritually and intellectually.” ~ Gene V. Glass & David C. Berliner
** “I’m exhausted. We were all exhausted. I’m going to get a nursing degree. Teaching degrees don’t get you anywhere. They’re making it really hard for people to become career teachers. They’re heading to a model where people can only teach for a few years and then they leave. I feel like I’m giving up on something I didn’t want to give up on–that I failed. The people that run our [Philadelphia] district need to know that I wanted to stay, but staying was impossible.” ~ Maria Ciancetta, former Philadelphia School District high school teacher
** “Standardized tests are unnecessary because they rarely show what we don’t already know. Ask any teacher and she can tell you which students can read and write. That telling usually comes in the form of letter grades or evaluations that break down progress on skills. So trust the teacher. Publish grade distributions. Locally publish a compilation of evaluation reports. Release a state or national report reviewed and verified by expert evaluators with legislative oversight. People will say, ‘That’s crazy! Schools will fudge results…. But people are already gaming standardized testing, sometimes criminally. And, at a basic level of competency, a grade or an evaluative report would give us as much information as we now get from standardized tests.” ~ Greg Jouriles, California h.s. science teacher