Good Neighbors

The grass is not greener on my neighbor’s lawn. He has crabgrass, bare spots, and clover. A few years ago he did not put Christmas lights up. Sometimes he does not say hi to me when I am outside. We are on opposite ends of the political spectrum on some issues. We come from different types of families. We raise our kids differently. He went to state school. He is a Jets fan. He is short. He is awesome.

Our conversations which are often mumbled grunts and distracted waves from our driveways coming from or going to someplace with three kids in tow are not a measure of what it is like to live next door to my neighbor. After Sandy, we worked together to protect our neighborhood against looting. When they heavy snows fell, we shoveled together through the night. He mows all the way to my driveway, not to the end of his property line, and I fertilize his lawn whenever I do mine.

We push each other to cross experience off our bucket lists. While he was training for an Ironman Triathlon, I was working on my dissertation. He was inspired to take the next step in his career and I was inspired to not be out of shape.

Good fences make good neighbors. Good neighbors with boundaries and respect make good neighborhoods. Good neighborhoods make great kids. Great kids will remember the fun they had on lawns in their green laces. They won’t remember who fought the crabgrass, bare spots, and clover.

Advertisement

The Honeymoon is Over

 

Green Laces are an idealistic symbol. They were created by two dads who were motivated to stop what they saw to be imminent threats to their children’s public education. The honeymoon has lasted for a year, and for some, that time has ended.

The question is, are you still in?

Before you decide, be sure to know who we are, why we wear green laces, and what we believe will help public education, its students, and their teachers to be even more awesome.

Lace to the Top is parents, educators, and children who have become advocates for public education. We are your friends, neighbors, and colleagues, not your enemy nor adversary.

The Lace to the Top Facebook page was created as a megaphone to call people who saw and felt the need to be a part of a positive change in education. We attracted many when we started with information that we thought was honest, useful, and clever. Many of our friends and family members joined us right from that first day in July, followed quickly by colleagues, members of other Facebook pages with a similar focus, and people who were new to the issues surrounding public education reform.

We wear green laces to help kids connect with adults in their school and community. We have been to the rallies and we will continue to do so proudly with our bold laces on whatever shoes we wear and whatever costumes suit the situation.

We believe this is the smartest generation yet, tested by the worst system ever. We believe high-stakes testing needs to be scrapped. We opt-out our children. Our sole focus is not Common Core. We welcome evaluations that are fair and do not damage students and the school year while tests pushers tout their importance and deny the abuse.

Lace to the Top has been part of joining collective whispers into a chorus. When some of the whispers change to screams from a different chorus, it is time to clean the chorus. The appearance of a united front will effect far more change than squabbling over divided details.

This is not an appeal to convince you to stay. This is a reminder of why you came. The Honeymoon was nice, but raising beautiful children is better.

Recall Notice

A few years ago, my daughter’s highchair was recalled. When I read the recall notice I thought I had missed something because the problem seemed so benign. There are pegs on the back of the legs on which to hang the tray when not in use. Children could fall on the pegs and suffer cuts or bruises. According to the recall notice, there were 21 incidents reported. To put that in perspective, 455,000 high chairs were sold. That’s a .005 chance of your child getting a bruise when he stumbles into the chair. For this risk, all high chairs were recalled and the company sent out little rubber covers to put over the pegs.

The amount of students taking high stakes exams dwarfs the amount of high chairs sold and every single student that takes the test is adversely affected. They may not all be stressed, or physically ill, but they are missing out on instructional time. For me, that is not the educational equivalent of a cut or bruise. It is a broken bone. The instructional time lost to test prep, test taking and test scoring does irreparable damage to the educational process for both students and teachers. All teachers and all students are negatively affected. Entire families and communities are affected.

Children were not being seriously injured by the highchairs. They were suffering minor cuts and bruises; common occurrences through childhood. So why would Chicco spend so much money to send out replacement parts to eliminate the very minimal risk? One can assume it is because they fear litigation. They want to relinquish responsibility for any harm, no matter how minor, befalling your child because they fear your response.

So why haven’t these tests been recalled to avoid the major damage being done to children? Is it because the profiteers responsible for their administration do not feel any risk of backlash? Are they so confident that we will continue to silently sustain injury that they will not consider recalling their dangerous product? They should consider themselves on notice: We will not be silent. We will not let our children, teachers and schools sustain any more injuries. We will not allow our children’s education to be squandered. We will contact politicians. We will talk to our neighbors. We will reclaim our schools and never buy their shoddy product again.

As one…

Lace to the Top

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lacetothetop/

Twitter: @lacetothetop

Children Were Brought to Tears Today

Dear Parents & Students,

 

We want to apologize for not fighting hard enough against the NYSED’s high-stakes tests. As a result, children were unnecessarily brought to tears.

 

Today ends the 6^th day of the NYS testing. We have watched and read stories of product placement, developmentally inappropriate reading texts, questions that used wording well above grade level, confusing children about what was being asked. We have read stories of hundreds of schools receiving incomplete test booklets and as a result, students are forced to return for a 7^th day of testing. And today, many witnessed questions that were not “real world” problems, but rather, evidence of real problems with high-stakes tests.    

 

Because of our efforts many were saved, but clearly it was not enough. Far too many parents and teachers have sat back as high-stakes tests wreaked havoc in their schoolhouses. And for what???? What can we possibly gain by continuing to allow our children to be subject to this nonsense? It will take months to get the results, we are never allowed to see the tests, and there is a “gag order” placed on teachers to prevent them from even discussing them.

 

Some of the high-stakes tests have ended, but the war continues. Children will be placed in front of field tests. Some will be forced to sit and take local standardized tests to evaluate their teachers in all subjects. At what point will it be enough? At what point do we stop calling it the Common Core and call it what it is- the Common Test?

 

Please know we will continue to fight and we will. We will win for our children, our schools, our teachers, and our communities. When we win, students will know they mean more than a score, parents will know that their rights mean more than the Core, and teachers will be allowed to be more than a scripted module. Kings are falling, politicians are scrambling, and corporations are worrying.

Wear your green knowing that children will be happier and their education will be stronger because of your commitment to their future.

 

As one

 

Lace to the Top