Why We Won't WASL
Juanita Doyon
Public education in a free
society should be a joyful experience.
Sadly, as the educational bureaucracy has joined forces with big
business and big government to oversee our school system, this is not the case
for most local schools.
I believe in public
schools. I believe it is my right as a
parent to expect my local public schools, with my help, to offer my children a
caring, safe environment and the opportunity to learn basics and explore their
special interests, such as music, art, woodworking, etc... With my guidance, my children should be able
to find what they need at home, at school and in our community to grow to
become caring, competent, contributing members of our society.
Parents are responsible for
the education of their children.
Whether we choose public, private or homeschool, we must be given the
right and the charge of being the final quality control of what our children
are offered as learning experiences and how they meet the requirements of our
local school and elected school board.
Whenever possible, our public schools should offer choices and options
and give us the opportunity for input to decisions about educational
programming. Schools must go out of
their way to communicate with parents.
We are their best hope for success.
Apathy demands
bureaucracy. How much easier and more
profitable it is for the hierarchy to increase their hold and control than to
wake the masses and empower them to improve their local schools. Our state office of superintendent employs
300 people to oversee our 296 public school districts. A system of Educational Service Districts
duplicates the state administration to oversee the district administration to
oversee the building administration. Is
it any wonder there is a shortage of educational administrators, with all those
positions to fill?
Enter higher state and
nationally driven "standards" for what children must "know and
be able to do" and a test to tell us whether our children can measure up
for the "real world of the 21st century"-- WASL! In an attempt to guarantee order and neat
"outcomes" for all students, our schools have become data analysis centers. Disregarding the fact that children in our
country are paper and pencil tested more than any other country in the world,
WA Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, in cooperation with testing
and curriculum companies, has developed a "new and improved" testing
vessel. Within 3 years they hope to be
rid of recognized standardized assessments, such as ITBS, and be able to focus
instruction completely to the goals and standards of Washington Assessment of
Student Learning. It is planned that
students in the class of 2008, who aren't able to meet the standard on WASL,
will be deemed unfit to continue past high school and will not receive a
diploma. The long standing reward for
13 years of educational growth and achievement will now be denied, by the
state, based on one extremely subjective test result. Welcome to the bottom line oriented 21st century.
Why won't we WASL? Because we believe in parent, student and
teacher rights and local control of OUR public schools.
Juanita Doyon
Organizer, Mothers Against
WASL
WA State Coordinator for the
national Assessment Reform Network
Candidate, WA Superintendent
of Public Instruction, 2004
Author, Not With Our Kids
You Don’t! Ten Strategies to Save Our Schools,
Heinemann 2003
email: Jedoyon@aol.com visit: www.juanita2004spi.com phone:
253/846-0823
Permission granted to copy
and distribute this article. 10/15/02