Public School Teacher...Private School Parent

I recently started following Badass Teachers Association on facebook.  The page is chock full of complaints about standardized testing from teachers across the country.  A recent post links to an article from the Sun Sentinel, a newspaper from a small Florida town.  The article, titled School Boardmember withdraws son from public school, briefly explains how a board member, Abby Freedman, removed her 12 year old son from the public school system in which she is employed and enrolled him in a private school costing a measly $23,900 in tuition.  The reason: she was sick of the standardized testing.  At Westglades Middle School in Coral Springs, FL, the culminating test taken each year counts for 30% of a student’s overall grade. 

Abby Freedman is not alone.  According to a 2004 Washington Post story (I couldn’t find more recent data) 35% of public school teachers in Baltimore send their own children to private school.   This doesn’t mean that all teachers withdraw their kids because of testing procedures.  I am sure that the list of reasons is lengthy.  However, I doubt that Freedman is the first of her kind.

I don’t think I would have acted in the same way as Freedman, but I do support her decision.  According to the Sun’s article, Westglades Middle School has pretty prestigious academics.  If this is true, what does the school have to worry about when it comes time for the end of the year test?  It seems as if their students will find themselves well prepared.

In contrast, one test that counts for 30% of a student’s grade is intense, especially at the middle school level.  It also puts a lot of pressure on teachers to have high performing students.  Freedman claims that instructors at Westglades Middle School do not teach to the test but I have to think that there   Teachers who were once dedicated to creative, experimental learning will find themselves spending a little more time with the number two pencils and scantron sheets.  I worry about Westglades Middle School not because their students will not perform at a proficient level, but because their teachers may start to slip as they become more and more focused on testing numbers. 

will be a little of that going on.