New York Times columnist Gail Collins' op ed in the New York Times yesterday clearly lays out the nexus between charter schools, textbook companies, and standardized tests. If the charter petition is approved by the Lagunitas Board of Trustees on May 10th or June 12th our beloved school too will come under the control of the Charter-Textbook-Testing-Corporate Complex. The charter (notice that it does not include "Waldorf" in its name or require its teachers be Waldorf trained when hired) will be run by a virtually unaccountable Walmart affiliated non-profit that requires our children spend months prepping and taking standardized tests — something completely antithetical to a Waldorf curriculum.
If the Board votes to approve this charter petition we will see the first wedge of a creeping loss of control over our local public school, the draining of public school tax dollars, the erosion of services to our children, the loss of staff and teachers, and ironically the ultimate loss of a true public Waldorf program. As Collins succinctly concludes, "We’re now in a world in
which decisions about public education involve not just parents and
children and teachers, but also big profits or losses for the private
sector. Change the tests, or the textbooks, or the charters, or even the rules for teacher certification, and you change somebody’s bottom line."
Do we really want a Walmart in West Marin? Be there May 10th to speak your mind and say "No charter. Yes, public Waldorf school."
Thank you,Robert for this post!
ReplyDeleteI,too am opposed to standardized testing and opt out for my four children year after year.
It is surprising to me a that a Waldorf inspired school would consent to this type of commercialization!
I am supposing that they cannot rightfully advertise as a true Waldorf school because of this major change in their curriculum!
How odd!
I am opposed to the Waldorf Charter for this reason,
and for the fact that charter schools are not in support of our public school system yet are still paid for by the local taxpayers.
We have a fine PUBLIC Waldorf program in our district, Why should we need to go charter for a school that can't rightfully say that it follows the Waldofr method?
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