Why The BQPFRC Educational Activists Hate Standardized Testing

The pressure to pass students - even those who rarely go to class or can't read - is pervasive in the Philadelphia School District, teachers around the city say.

This entire article can be summed up in two bullet points:

• The lack of INTEGRITY in the system of educational evaluation
• The absence of the COMMUNITY in the educational process for their most prized possession - their young people who are tasked to LEARN a certain set of competencies for they will one day be ADULTS and they will one day GOVERN the community

In summary, folks - IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT THE NEXT 45 YEARS IN BLACK AMERICA WILL LOOK LIKE, don't look at Obama in the White House, look within your public schools at the sea of young Black kids and how they are faring. As a native of Philadelphia who knows all of the schools that are listed in the article - this is nothing short of SHAMEFUL!!!

My goal is not to "attack" Black America. My goal is to show the wide cavern that exists between the POPULARLY ACCEPTED body of political/cultural/social thoughts within Black America and what our PERMANENT INTERESTS are.

I am no more "attacking Black people", consumed in our failure than one can accuse the investigative journalist that put together this excellent piece can be accused of.

Instead we must look at the motivations of the people who seek to be protective of the current order. Just as in the past where racist Whites who were more interested in saving face with the unjust system that they defended - they attacked any Black person that dared to point to the scars upon the underbelly of the machine that they prided themselves upon, such is the case here. Those operatives who worked so hard to bring forth this present order within the Black community are loathed to be subjected to inspection regarding how much their aggregate actions are actually benefiting Black people.

YOU must ask yourself - Are you an ENABLER of their agenda which seeks to grow their machine or are you actually working for the benefit of the people who are now being failed?

This tells of an aggregate collapse of the multitude of fabrics that allow the city of Philadelphia to call itself a functional city. Instead it is rife with DYSFUNCTION.


The Article

The push comes in memos, in meetings, and in talks about failure rates that are too high, the teachers say. It comes through mountains of paperwork and justification for failing any student. It comes in ways subtle and overt, according to more than a dozen teachers from nine of the city's 62 high schools.

"We have to give fake grades," said a teacher at Mastbaum High in Kensington. "The pressure is very real."

A teacher at University City High described getting pressure from the school's administrators to pass a student who had 89 absences over a half-year.

Social promotion - moving along students with their same-age classmates whether they deserve it or not - has plagued the district for decades despite efforts to stop it.

The reasons for its persistence are unclear, but teachers suggest that the push to pass is especially great now because of increased scrutiny from Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. Schools are now judged on many criteria, including the number of students who pass.

The Inquirer interviewed 15 teachers who spoke on condition that their names not be reported for fear of reprisal.

Since The Inquirer first reported June 7 on alleged pressure to pass at South Philadelphia High School, Ackerman has disavowed the practice and ordered an investigation into the complaints.

Teachers from around the city have now come forward to say pressure to pass students is prevalent at their schools, too.

The teachers say the pressure continued from their principals despite an e-mail Monday from Ackerman directing them to report the grades students earned. High school grades were due that week, and school ends Tuesday.

Teachers also blasted a district policy that requires them to give every student at least a 50 even if he or she didn't attend class or do the work. At some schools, teachers said, the minimum grade is 60. Passing is 65.

Late Friday, Ackerman issued a statement abolishing the 50 minimum starting in the fall for all 167,000 students, saying it conflicted with her "long-held philosophy."

Jerry Jordan, president of the teachers' union, condemned the push to pass, saying it undermined his teachers' professionalism.

But the practice is prevalent throughout the system, he said. "Absolutely. No doubt. At every level."

Jordan also said the union could push only for contract language protecting teachers from pressure.