I teach in New York State. If you don't, you can remove the first sentence of the second paragraph...
Dear _________________,
Thank you for participating in the hearings into the actions
of the Department of Education’s Chief Information Officer, Dr. Danny
Harris. While it is still unclear
if Dr. Harris’ actions were illegal, unethical, counter to Department policy,
or just plain bad choices, one thing was made very clear during the February 2nd
testimony - John King is a person worth questioning further.
As a teacher in the great state of New York, I witnessed
first hand the detrimental effects of his rush to implement unproven and
developmentally inappropriate standards in our state’s public schools. He has a history of being unresponsive
to outside suggestions, guidance, and feedback. While working as the Commissioner of Education in New York,
he remained consistently dismissive of pleas to reconsider policy decisions and
to slow the pace with which he sought to implement change. In the face of countless stakeholders
(administrators, teachers, parents, and students,) testifying as to the
negative impact of his decisions, Mr. King refused to alter his steadfast
belief that his way was the only right way. His rigid, dogmatic responses to concerns and questions
raised at the Congressional hearing were consistent with his behavior as
Commissioner in New York.
The results of John King’s decisions have left a wake of confusion,
frustration, and destruction in New York schools. Mr. King’s decisions had such a significantly negative
impact, that Governor Cuomo himself, formerly a strong supporter of Mr. King’s,
reversed his opinion after Mr. King left to join the DoE following Arne
Duncan’s resignation. Governor
Cuomo has stated that there was a “flawed” rush to implement new standards and
tests and as such, he was in favor of a total “re-boot” of the process of
education reform in our state. The
governor’s words could be accurately be seen as a vote of “no confidence” in the process Mr. King designed and led during his tenure as Commissioner of
Education of the State of New York.
Please, I urge you to take a closer look at the actions and
goals of John King. He has a
readily observable record in the public schools of New York. There are many televised forums
available where you can witness his bizarre indifference to the pleadings of
administrators, teachers, parents, and students. As Commissioner of Education in New York, he made decisions
that continue to negatively impact the students and teachers of New York.
I urge you to investigate and to question
if he is the person that should be leading the Department of Education at this
time.
Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.
Sincerely,
________________
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