Action #1: Letter writing to Congressman Chaffetz and other members
of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Timing
for greatest impact: February
20-27
Action:
I have long been feeling the need for some kind of on-going, unified action that we as teachers, parents, and concerned citizens can do to get our message out. The message is a counter-narrative to the damaging, but wildly successful message of "education reform" that the corporate philanthropists and politicians of all stripes have written. The tipping point for me was when I viewed the proceedings of the February 2nd Congressional hearing on questionable behavior by the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Education. (See background information below.) While it's still unclear to me if Dr. Harris is at fault for serious allegations, or if he's a fall guy of some sort, what is abundantly clear is that something is terribly wrong at the DoE. And with John King now leading that department, I am more than EXTREMELY concerned. (And I'm a New Yorker with personal experience with his damaging "leadership.")
I am positive there are many, many substantive issues upon which Mr. Chaffetz, Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and I disagree. But I think he’s Chairing an investigation worth supporting at this time. There is much that could be learned from further questioning. The hearings to this point in time seem to raise more questions than have been answered.
I am positive there are many, many substantive issues upon which Mr. Chaffetz, Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and I disagree. But I think he’s Chairing an investigation worth supporting at this time. There is much that could be learned from further questioning. The hearings to this point in time seem to raise more questions than have been answered.
These
hearings demand a response from the public. (See background information below, if you’re unfamiliar with
the issues.) We have to let both
the Congressmen and women know we are watching and we are concerned. We need to let them know there are more
questions that should be asked and more concerns about the Department of
Education that should be investigated.
I believe a worthwhile first letter-writing action should include the following:
·
Contacting Congressman Chaffetz to both thank him for leading an investigation into the Department of Education’s CIO, and encourage him to continue investigating how the Department functions. (It has one of the worst “job satisfaction” ratings in the entire government, which has to mean something.)
Contacting Congressman Chaffetz to both thank him for leading an investigation into the Department of Education’s CIO, and encourage him to continue investigating how the Department functions. (It has one of the worst “job satisfaction” ratings in the entire government, which has to mean something.)
·
Encourage further questioning of Secretary King which could help
illuminate what exactly he believes is in the best interest of American school
children and teachers.
·
Support further questioning/investigating by the other Congressmen
and Congresswomen who sit on the Committee.
What questions do you think should be asked? Please send me your thoughts and I will formulate a sample letter to share. Or write your own letter.
Below
you will find contact information for the various Congress people who
participated in the hearings.
In order to write them, you have to insert an address and zip
code from their district. I used a street address close to their office and that seemed to work. (Not sure how this will be received, but I added a P.S. to my letter apologizing for my minor deception...)
Alternatively, you can write your own representative, even if they’re not on the Committee, to share your concerns.
Alternatively, you can write your own representative, even if they’re not on the Committee, to share your concerns.
Mr.
Lieu (California-D) https://lieu.house.gov/contact
· Ms. Plaskett (Virgin Islands)
She is OUTSTANDING!! “The panel is how the truth is uncovered. “ https://plaskett.house.gov/contact
·
From this hearing it
seems abundantly clear what is wrong at the DoE - cover-up, lack of
accountability, lack of questioning, lack of follow-through, turning a blind
eye, and now John King is heading this agency????
PLEASE WRITE/CALL and share your concerns about how the
Department of Education is being run in general, and about John King leading
the department, in particular.
Background:
In February,
the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a Hearing
entitled: “U.S. Department of Education: Investigation of the CIO.” The goal was to further investigate
allegations against the Chief Information Officer, Danny Harris regarding
security of millions of American’s personal information and possible conflicts
of interest in his personal life.
You can see details from the first hearing from November 17, 2015 here.
And you can
see details of the February 2nd
hearing here.
The February hearing at least, is actually
noteworthy tv/internet viewing, appearing somewhere between a docu-drama and
tragicomedy. I set out to view 10
minutes to get the gist of the issues, but nearly three hours later, I realized
I’d sat through the entire proceedings.
And while the issues of security breaches and unofficial side-jobs and
ethical questions of how a person at the head of a major government department
can engage in even remotely questionable behavior, and the very real concerns
about cyber security exposed by a controlled breach of the information system (that
contains millions of Americans’ personal information,) what I found most
riveting was the testimony of John King, acting Commissioner of Education.
Those of you from New York State know him as
the leader of the recent “education reform” in our state. Those measures included an ill-advised
rush to implement unproven new standards, and the even more damaging implementation
of unproven, untested, and developmentally inappropriate new assessments to
determine teaching and learning effectiveness for all teachers and students in New
York State, grades 3 – 8. He left
a wake of disruption and destruction in our schools which led to, among other
things, a 20% Opt Out rate last Spring and Governor Cuomo reversing his own
public position to say he believes the implementation of the new standards was
“deeply flawed,” and he urged a full “re-boot” of the process. That deeply flawed process was the
brainchild of none other than John King, the current acting Secretary of Education
of the United States, (and soon-to-be approved Secretary?) He was recruited by President Obama
last spring to replace out-going Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.
John King is now THE leading educator in the United
States of America. From his own
testimony at the hearing he states:
“I firmly believe that providing our children with a great
education is not just about subject matter knowledge, but also about instilling
the values that will help them become faithful contributors to our communities
and democracy. That is why throughout my career in public service I have always
expected myself, then my students, and later, my colleagues and employees, to
adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct, and I will continue to
expect the same of the Department under my leadership in the year to come.”
What
he says and what he's saying do not actually match, though.
I
believe the most interesting (and unsettling) part of the Congressional hearing
on February 2nd is John King’s testimony. He so clearly demonstrates exactly how dangerous he can be
as a leader of anything. His style of unwaivering adherence to his internal
script (which contains no real answers) in the face of pointed questioning by
many members of Congress, is exposed.
Congressman Chaffetz’s, Chair of the Committee, frustration is
palpable. Mr. King neither
responds directly to most questions posed, nor does he raise his voice, get
ruffled, nor goes off-script. He
doesn’t answer the questions posed to him, and he doesn’t appear to see any
conflict nor issue with his responses.
The man in charge of the path an entire nation’s school children is
clearly someone to question further and to wonder about.
How
can you claim that your goal is to instill values in children so they can
become faithful contributors to our democracy, yet remain ignorant of or
dismissive of or just plain indifferent to the enormous negative impact of his
decision-making?
We
must share our extreme concerns (shock? dismay? outrage?) about John King
leading the Department of Education. New Yorkers know first-hand the damage he
can cause. And he makes no
apologies, sees no conflicts, and allows for absolutely no differences of
opinion. He is a man blindly
(absurdly?) dedicated to his own agenda.
And that agenda harms kids.
Period.
Sample
letter to be posted soon…
But
you can write your own right now! :-)
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