[announce-gpco] A Different Perspective on CSAP
Babbidge2@aol.com
Babbidge2@aol.com
Wed, 18 Jan 2006 12:49:31 EST
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To borrow the immortal words of that noted twentieth century philosopher Mick
Jagger, "Please allow me to introduce myself". My name is Tim Babbidge. I
live in Aurora and I hope to be the party's candidate for the legislature in AD
42 this November.
However, that is a topic for a little bit later in the year. I am contacting
you today as a function of my other political role, that of treasurer of the
Coalition for Better Education, http://www.thecbe.org/, the anti-CSAP group
formed by Don Perl out of Greeley. Don was one of the very few teachers in the
state courageous enough to "Just Say No to CSAP." He refused to administer
it, was suspended for his principles, retired from the Greeley Public Schools,
and is now a professor at UNC.
I am not going to make a long statement about the evils of high stakes
standardized testing here. If anyone wants details, I urge you to contact me. I
can supply a reading list, as well as anecdotal evidence from my seventeen
years in the classroom and the equal amount of time my wife has spent teaching,
that should answer any or all of your questions about why and how CSAP is a
monster that is in the process of destroying Colorado's schools and demoralizing
its kids and teachers.
Rather, I am going to ask for your help in getting our message out. The
Denver/Jeffco chapter of the party, thank you Dave Chandler and Rick Van Wie, has
already been very supportive, hosting a forum on the subject of standardized
testing and generating a number of letters to the editor opposing CSAP as well.
That is the kind of help I am looking for.
Enclosed find a press release that went out last Friday, one that inspired an
article in Saturday's "RM News" and a very vitriolic editorial in today's
edition of the same paper. (See also our front page article in the 3/30/05
"Denver Post".) Please share it with friends, family, supporters of the Green
Party, your local newspapers, your local school board, and local teachers,
students, and parent groups. Please also let me know if you would be willing to host
a forum on the subject of high stakes standardized testing or if you know of
any groups in your area, e.g. Elks, Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, etc. who might be
willing to entertain a guest speaker. We have a corps of volunteers all over
the state who would be willing to assist you in this task. I am ready and
willing to go anywhere there is an audience although, if you are out of the I-25
corridor, I might ask for a bed for the night as the price of my services.
This is an issue that is tailor made for the Green Party, one on which both
wings of the "Republocratic" Party are equally bad, although Rep. Judy Solano
(D) is going to introduce legislation in this session attempting to moderate
the worst excesses of the testing program. I intend to make testing one of the
central issues of my campaign, intend to illustrate how it is a front for
voucher adovocates as well as being a potentially huge cash cow for corporate
America, e.g. McGraw Hill, a major producer of tests and testing programs, has
seen its profits increase seven fold in the period 1993-2003. I have found the
general public to be very receptive to the idea of killing this monster once
they are fully informed of its colossal biases, especially those of a
socioeconomic nature. If the Green Party can make opposition to testing its own, it
could serve the party very well in terms of expanding our base, especially among
minority and working class communities where we have been traditionally weak.
Vote Green! We aren't just tree huggers anymore!
Thanks for your consideration.
Tim Babbidge
Treasurer, Coalition for Better Education
Founding member, Secretary, Arapahoe Country Green Party
Candidate, Green Party nomination, AD42
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
CSAP AND CIVIL RIGHTS
On behalf of the Coalition for Better Education, http://www.thecbe.org/,, its
founder Don Perl, its hundreds of members from around the state, and the tens
of thousands of students, teachers, parents, and average citizens all over
the country who are rising up in spontaneous and democratic opposition to high
stakes standardized testing, I would like to bring to your attention the CBE's
latest educational effort.
Beginning on January 16th, the CBE will be unveiling bus bench ads around the
metro area and Greeley. The ads will be highlighted by our increasingly
recognizable logo of a slash through CSAP and will say, "Parents: We CAN do
something about this injustice. Opt out letters available at www.thecbe.org."
The January 16th rollout of our ads, and their location on bus benches, is
particularly appropriate given that that is the date for this year's celebration
of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Opposition to high stakes standardized
testing, with its well documented biases in the areas of ethnicity, gender,
and especially socioeconomic status, is a civil rights issue. High stakes
standardized testing is one of the primary factors in the ongoing resegregation of
America's schools, with some studies showing that our schools are now more
segregated, i.e. have more nonwhite children attending majority nonwhite
schools, than in the era before Brown vs. Board of Education.
Parallels to the civil rights struggle also exist in terms of the responses
of authority to those who are challenging their policies. Just as governments
all across the nation instituted the most draconian punishments against
students who protested segregation in the nineteen fifities and sixties, so are they
now punishing those who would now stand up in opposition to the resegregation
of our schools. The Bennett School District has threatened to fail those
students who exercise their legal right to opt out of the test, while the Wiggins
School District has threatened to exclude them from extracurricular
activities and field trips.
Despite these abuses of power, more than three thousand students, including
my daughter, "Just Said No to CSAP" last year ("Denver Post", 3/30/05). They
honor the memories of Dr. King and Rosa Parks with their courage and set a
shining example that we urge all of the people of Colorado, students, teachers,
parents, and the citizenry in general to follow.
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<DIV>To borrow the immortal words of that noted twentieth century philosophe=
r Mick Jagger, "Please allow me to introduce myself". My name is Tim B=
abbidge. I live in Aurora and I hope to be the party's candidate for&n=
bsp;the legislature in AD 42 this November.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>However, that is a topic for a little bit later in the year. I am=
contacting you today as a function of my other political role, that of=
treasurer of the Coalition for Better Education, <A title=3Dhttp://www.thec=
be.org/ href=3D"http://www.thecbe.org/">http://www.thecbe.org/</A>, the anti=
-CSAP group formed by Don Perl out of Greeley. Don was one of the very=
few teachers in the state courageous enough to "Just Say No to CSAP." =
He refused to administer it, was suspended for his principles, retired from=
the Greeley Public Schools, and is now a professor at UNC. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am not going to make a long statement about the evils of high stakes=20=
standardized testing here. If anyone wants details, I urge=20=
you to contact me. I can supply a reading list, as well as anecdo=
tal evidence from my seventeen years in the classroom and the equal amo=
unt of time my wife has spent teaching, that should answer any or all o=
f your questions about why and how CSAP is a monster that is in the process=20=
of destroying Colorado's schools and demoralizing its kids and teachers.</DI=
V>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Rather, I am going to ask for your help in getting our message out.&nbs=
p; The Denver/Jeffco chapter of the party, thank you Dave Chandler and Rick=20=
Van Wie, has already been very supportive, hosting a forum on the subject of=
standardized testing and generating a number of letters to the editor oppos=
ing CSAP as well. That is the kind of help I am looking for.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Enclosed find a press release that went out last Friday, one that=20=
inspired an article in Saturday's "RM News" and a very vitriolic editorial i=
n today's edition of the same paper. (See also our front page article=20=
in the 3/30/05 "Denver Post".) Please share it with friends, family, s=
upporters of the Green Party, your local newspapers, your local school board=
, and local teachers, students, and parent groups. Please also let me=20=
know if you would be willing to host a forum on the subject of high stakes s=
tandardized testing or if you know of any groups in your area, e.g. Elks, Li=
ons, Rotary, Kiwanis, etc. who might be willing to entertain a guest speaker=
. We have a corps of volunteers all over the state who would be willin=
g to assist you in this task. I am ready and willing to go anywhere th=
ere is an audience although, if you are out of the I-25 corridor, I might as=
k for a bed for the night as the price of my services. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This is an issue that is tailor made for the Green Party, one on which=20=
both wings of the "Republocratic" Party are equally bad, although Rep. Judy=20=
Solano (D) is going to introduce legislation in this session attempting to m=
oderate the worst excesses of the testing program. I intend to make te=
sting one of the central issues of my campaign, intend to illustrate how it=20=
is a front for voucher adovocates as well as being a potentially huge cash c=
ow for corporate America, e.g. McGraw Hill, a major producer of tests and te=
sting programs, has seen its profits increase seven fold in the period 1993-=
2003. I have found the general public to be very receptive to the idea=
of killing this monster once they are fully informed of its colossal biases=
, especially those of a socioeconomic nature. If the Green Party can m=
ake opposition to testing its own, it could serve the party very well in ter=
ms of expanding our base, especially among minority and working class commun=
ities where we have been traditionally weak. Vote Green! We aren=
't just tree huggers anymore!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for your consideration.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tim Babbidge</DIV>
<DIV>Treasurer, Coalition for Better Education</DIV>
<DIV>Founding member, Secretary, Arapahoe Country Green Party</DIV>
<DIV>Candidate, Green Party nomination, AD42</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>-----------------------------------------------------------------------=
-----------------------------------------------------------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>CSAP AND CIVIL RIGHTS</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>On behalf of the Coalition for Better Education, <A title=3Dhttp://www.=
thecbe.org/ href=3D"http://www.thecbe.org/">http://www.thecbe.org/</A>,, its=
founder Don Perl, its hundreds of members from around the state, and the te=
ns of thousands of students, teachers, parents, and average citizens all ove=
r the country who are rising up in spontaneous and democratic opposition to=20=
high stakes standardized testing, I would like to bring to your attention th=
e CBE's latest educational effort.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Beginning on January 16th, the CBE will be unveiling bus bench ads =
;around the metro area and Greeley. The ads will be highlighted b=
y our increasingly recognizable logo of a slash through CSAP and will say, "=
Parents: We CAN do something about this injustice. Opt out lette=
rs available at www.thecbe.org."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The January 16th rollout of our ads, and their location on bus benches,=
is particularly appropriate given that that is the date for this year'=
s celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Opposition to=
high stakes standardized testing, with its well documented biases in the ar=
eas of ethnicity, gender, and especially socioeconomic status, is a civil ri=
ghts issue. High stakes standardized testing is one of the primary&nbs=
p;factors in the ongoing resegregation of America's schools, with some studi=
es showing that our schools are now more segregated, i.e. have more nonwhite=
children attending majority nonwhite schools, than in the era before Brown=20=
vs. Board of Education.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Parallels to the civil rights struggle also exist in terms of the respo=
nses of authority to those who are challenging their policies. Just as=
governments all across the nation instituted the most draconian punishments=
against students who protested segregation in the nineteen fifities an=
d sixties, so are they now punishing those who would now stand up in opposit=
ion to the resegregation of our schools. The Bennett School District h=
as threatened to fail those students who exercise their legal right to opt o=
ut of the test, while the Wiggins School District has threatened to exc=
lude them from extracurricular activities and field trips. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Despite these abuses of power, more than three thousand students, inclu=
ding my daughter, "Just Said No to CSAP" last year ("Denver Post", 3/30=
/05). They honor the memories of Dr. King and Rosa Parks with their co=
urage and set a shining example that we urge all of the people of Colorado,=20=
students, teachers, parents, and the citizenry in general to follow.</DIV></=
DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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