Show Me in Writing

Yesterday Idaho Ed News posted an article fretting about what could happen because Madison School District made the choice to use the MAP test rather than the SBAC as the assessment vehicle for testing this spring. The concern expressed is since Madison is refusing the SBAC, Idaho’s test participation percentage will fall to 98% of Idaho’s total student population taking the test. According to No Child Left Behind, 95% of all students must be tested.  Supposedly, the state could lose $10 million in federal funding.

Madison Superintendent Geoffrey Thomas and the local school board made this decision together. The district and the parents worked together to determine what was best for their children. They sent a letter to the State Department of Education informing them of their intentions in January.

It is of note that Superintendent Thomas was awarded the Superintendent of the Year recognition by his peers. (I4LE was ahead of the curve and deemed him Supt. of the Year last year!) The decision to use the MAP test instead of the SBAC was not one that Thomas took lightly. He recognized the inherent issues with Common Core and the SBAC long ago and rather than sit on the sidelines, he decided to take a stand for the children and teachers in his school district.

So, before more pressure is placed on Supt. Thomas to reverse his position, there are a couple of things I’d like to see in writing:

1. I’d like our State Department of Education to get in writing just exactly what will happen to Idaho Schools if we fail to meet the 95% testing requirement. No, coulds, mights or maybes. No conjecture. No threats. Just cold, hard facts. I want to know exactly what the U.S. Dept. of Education is going to do to the State of Idaho if we don’t reach the magical 95% student testing rate. I’m tired of all the guessing, conjecture, and threats.

2. I want to know exactly where is it written into law that the U.S. Dept. of Education has the authority to punish any state for not reaching 95%. I want to see the actual words! Where do they get that right? No Child Left Behind has a reputation for having serious consequences for breaching it but the reality I’ve found in the research I’ve done over the past few years is that the consequences are so small they’re inconsequential. So, I want someone to show me where it is written that USED can withhold funding. SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

Then, if anyone can prove either of the above:

I want a written apology. For the last few years I’ve been told repeatedly by many in Idaho’s educational leadership (Tom Luna, Rep. Reed DeMordaunt, former Senator John Goedde, and many others in the “education reform” crowd at the Capitol) that Idaho hasn’t given away its educational sovereignty, that Idaho would drop Common Core like a hot potato if USED tried to take too much control.

Sadly, the reality is it appears we have sold our souls and lost our educational sovereignty to Washington DC, corporations, and private special-interest groups.