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Washington State has the nation's most rigorous graduation requirements as reported to the state legislators by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction....OSPI. Someone sent me a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and I am concerned that the other side of the story was left out...at what cost? The class of 2013 will be the first class in Washington that will be denied their HS diplomas if they don't pass all three state standards in Reading, Writing, and Math. Currently there are 16,000 students that are on track to graduate, have done everything they have been asked, have all their credits, and if they do not pass the math exam in Alg or Geometry, they will be denied their HS diploma. The state is willing to throw these students into dropout status....conscious of the path of poverty they are going to send thousands of students down this road. The student's 13 yrs of education will be defined by one test...with no consideration of their other strengths and abilities. What's the message to students that struggle with abstract concepts, they are labeled failures and the state robs them from their hope and dreams. There is no research to back up this punishing policy. The arrogance to judge a student's future success on whether he/she can pass a math test. The public is in the dark and have no idea of what their elected officials are keeping under the radar. I want to thank Chris for the incredible resources she keeps finding, but I can't get the story to break and bring awareness to our public. Any ideas that you have, that you feel might help us protect and bring awareness to this serious issue....please send them to me.

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Thanks Jane....I have never seen such hostility towards teachers, principal, grading schools with letter grades that they want posted so public can see how you have been graded. Our Rep has faded and lost traction, and the help she was getting got shut down by state superintendent that is really upset with my aggressive approach to call them all out. I get zero response from anything I write, my support gets responses....lots of jargon with no substance other than making it clear they won't change their position. WW school board approved a very strong letter in support of our mission and one of our board members is going to take my research and testify on Friday in Olympia. I can't tell you how exhausting this has been, I sure could use some additional help from peers to keep the pressure going. I'm spending 4-5 hour each night pushing the tweets. Chris has been amazing, I couldn't do it without her support and mentoring. A Bill will be presented on the floor this Friday requesting a two diploma option that still acknowledges high standards but allows the other kids to graduate that have completed everything but the state exam. The Bill came out late afternoon, I don't think it has a chance, but I think it is well written and gives the elites what they want. The arrogance is sickening....and disgraceful. They judge our kids as lazy, not serious about their education, and they are damn content to deny them their diploma. I'll keep you posted. Jim
Thank you Katherine, the MSP is the state assessment for the Middle Schools in Washington. I have posted on their sight, but haven't been able to get their attention. However, it is a very bold move and one worth watching. Thank you for the link, I'll check it out. I appreciate your support and encouragement. We're fighting hard, stirring it up, but we have a very strong opponent, and they have been able to keep things under the radar from our public. I'll have a better idea where we are at tomorrow. I'll keep everybody posted. Blessings, Jim

Hi Jim - Have you seen this? At Garfield High School in Seattle, the teachers refused to give the MAP test (I don't know if that's the same test you're talking about). Administrators took over the testing and the kids refused to cooperate, many with their parents' support. Here's a Facebook page about it -

http://www.facebook.com/SolidarityWithGarfieldHighSchoolTestingBoycott

I found out about this through the organization Rethinking Schools, it sounds like you might like this organization, if you don't already know it:

http://www.facebook.com/rethinkingschools

Thank you for your advocacy for children!

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