- MEDIA ADVISORY –
Suspend the Test, Not the Teachers!
National Day of Action to Support Seattle MAP Test Boycott:
“We demand quality assessment!”
Wear Red on Wed for Ed! Scrap the MAP!
*Join the event on Facebook!*
Click here for a list of events
Supporters will hold meetings, press conferences, rallies, take photos, and wear red to show support
Contact: scrapthemap@yahoo.com
For more info, visit:
http://scrapthemap.wordpress.com/
What: Educators, Students, Parents and supporters of Public Education nation-wide will take action in support of Garfield High School teachers and all teachers in Seattle Public Schools refusing to administer the MAP test.
Teachers at Garfield High School and other Seattle Public Schools have gained national attention and support for their stand against the Measure of Academic Progress, for its invalidity, waste of time and resources and its scandalous arrival to Seattle. We call on supporters of public education nationwide to participate in actions in their locale to show their support for our effort to Scrap the MAP. Supporters will hold meetings, rallies, take photos, and wear red to show support on February 6th.
As the nation-wide day of protest grows, we will send updates to the media with all the cities and organizations who are participating.
When: Wednesday, February 6th, 2013
Where: All over the nation! In Seattle actions will take place at participating schools, including Garfield, Orca, Chief Sealth, and Center School.
Some of the prominent organizations and individuals that have expressed their support for the Seattle MAP test boycott: National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), San Diego Education Association, UTLA Board of Directors, Parents Across America, Des Moines, Iowa Education Association, Diane Ravitch, Garfield High School PTSA, Garfield HS Associated Student Body, Dr. Wayne Au, Dexter Tang, President of Seattle Student Senate, Matt Damon & his mother Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Seattle Education Association (SEA), The SEA Substitute Association, and Social Equality Educators (SEE).
How do we organize parents to boycott the test?
Thanks for asking! There are a couple of good resources that I’ve seen on parents opting out of this particular test. The Seattle Education blog had a post on how to opt out at http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/how-to-opt-your-student-out-of-the-map-test/. Creativity Not Control also posted some suggestions for how parents can take action, along with a flyer that can be printed out, at https://creativitynotcontrol.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/test-post-2/.
I sent a lengthy letter to Superintendent Banda last week urging him not to take action against the Garfield teachers who have put professional ethics and commitment to students ahead of personal gain. There was an excellent editorial in the Sunday Seattle Times (2/3/13), “The Power of No”, eulogizing Rosa Parks and so many other civil rights workers for having the courage to say no to unjust laws and policies. Without such courageous actions, the Civil Rights Movement might have been stalled indefinitely or passed into the hands of those who urged more violent solutions. Civil disobedience when peaceful and employed by those who are not willing to simply follow orders at any cost is one of the time honored means of change for the greater good in the history of this country. I will certainly be wearing red at work on the sixth (I’m an SPS teacher with nineteen years service) and attending the rally at Garfield where my grandson is a sophomore.
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I hadn’t heard about the MAP test and have no idea why it is so objectionable. It would be helpful to know what it really is and how it got to be required in schools.
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