> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Test drama in Chicago
> Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 02:13:53 -0800 (PST)
>
> >Mime-Version: 1.0
> >Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 13:37:33 EST
> >Reply-To: Assessment Reform Network Mailing List <ARN-L who-is-at listsrva.CUA.EDU>
> >Sender: Assessment Reform Network Mailing List <ARN-L who-is-at listsrva.CUA.EDU>
> >From: "Bill Bigelow." <BBPDX who-is-at AOL.COM>
> >Subject: Test drama in Chicago
> >To: ARN-L who-is-at listsrva.CUA.EDU
> >
> >Dear ARN colleagues,
> >
> >An extraordinary drama is playing out in Chicago. The January-February issue
> >of Substance, a monthly paper written by Chicago teachers, began publishing
> >the entire text of all the "pilot" Chicago Academic Standards Examinations.
> >In an accompanying article, editor George Schmidt wrote that, "We are
> >publishing these here because the time has come to debate the educational
> >integrity of the claims of the [public schools CEO, Paul] Vallas
> >administration." For example, the social studies tests published in Substance
> >are a grab-bag of multiple choice questions that reduce complicated social
> >processes to grossly simplified single sentence or even single-word answers.
> >And, as Schmidt points out in accompanying commentary, many of these are
> >simply wrong. In order to successfully prepare students for these tests,
> >teachers would need to lead their classes on a memory-packing excursion
> >through the most conventional textbooks they could locate. Other sections of
> >the Chicago tests are similarly problematic, and deserving of spirited debate.
> >
> >I wrote Substance a letter congratulating them on their courage in forcing a
> >public conversation by publishing the tests. I received the letter below this
> >morning. It seems to me that what's going on in Chicago needs to be
> >publicized far and wide. Substance can be reached at csubstance who-is-at aol.com.
> >Phone is 773-725-7502.
> >
> >Bill Bigelow
> >Portland, OR
> >
> >January 30, 1999
> >
> >Dear Bill,
> >
> >Thanks for your letter. This will help get stuff out.
> >
> >The flap here was much greater than could have been anticipated. After our
> >publication of the CASE tests (distribution of Substance began with the
> >mailing to our 1,100 subscribers January 20), the public outrage about the
> >content of the tests grew. By the weekend, it was increasing as people got to
> >see the actual content of the tests their children had taken the previous
> >week.
> >
> >On Tuesday, January 26, the Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees (the
> >current legal name for our school board) went to federal court and sued
> >Substance and me for $1 million. At an ex parte hearing (their expensive
> >outside law firm apparently claimed to the judge that they couldn't locate me,
> >despite the fact that I had been teaching at Bowen High School, where I work,
> >all day) held between 3:30 and 4:15 that day, the board got U.S. District
> >Judge Charles Norgle to issue a temporary restraining order barring us from
> >further distribution of the January-February Substance (which contained 17
> >pages -- out of a total of 44 pages -- of the CASE tests). The judge also
> >granted the school board the right to seize all outstanding copies of
> >Substance. That meant that federal marshalls could be dispatched to seize
> >Substance and all copies of the "stolen" tests. The school board alleged
> >copyright violations and the theft of "trade secrets." It turned out that they
> >had not registered the tests' copyrights until the day they took us to court.
> >
> >In their "memorandum of law in support of plaintiff's motion for temporary
> >restraining order and for a writ of seizure", the Chicago school board stated
> >as follows:
> >
> >"In this case, though, the effect of the defendants' [i.e., Substance]
> >infringements could have long-lasting effects on children in the Chicago
> >Public Schools. The Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees, headed by
> >Superintendent Paul G. Vallas, have been working since their appointments to
> >improve the educational accountability of the Chicago Public Schools. They
> >have spent millions of dollars and hours to create an assessment tool -- the
> >1998 Chicago Academic Standards Examinations -- to show not only how high
> >school students of 1999 meet certain acfademic standards, but also how high
> >school students in the fiture will meet Illinois' academic standards.
> >
> >"Defendants, Publisher, George N. Schmidt and, upon information and belief,
> >Teacher-Publishers have, in one willful and self-serving act, destroyed what
> >Trustee has tried so hard to accomplish. The only reasonable means of
> >repairing that destruction is for this Court to order retrieval of every
> >single copy of the Newspaper, along with any other communication devices that
> >the Teachers Publishers have used to disseminate the 1998 examination
> >booklets. The Newspaper and other materials already disseminated must be
> >confiscated, even if it takes the U.S. Marshals going to every Chicago Public
> >School teacher's home. The unahthorized copies must be destroyed." (Memorandum
> >submitted in support of Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees vs Substance,
> >Inc, et al, January 26, 1999, before Judge Charlge Norgle, United States
> >District Court, Northern District Illinois, Eastern Division).
> >
> >I don't think I can emphasize how important it now is for the story of this
> >flap to get out widely. It's ironic that your Oregonian article mentions the
> >Palmer raids. [I had sent Substance an article that I had written, "Social
> >Studies Tests from Hell," about the wretched new Oregon assessments that we're
> >confronting here.] Considering that for three days this week, the Chicago
> >Public Schools administration had received federal permission to raid
> >teachers' homes indicates the type of problem we're facing.
> >
> >On Friday, because we were able to afford an expensive legal counter attack,
> >we suceeded in getting the judge to lift the TRO. He told the plaintiffs,
> >however, that the issue can still be litigated, and that the school board has
> >the right to continue against Substance and me for compensatory and punative
> >damages. Additionally, the mayor and school officials have announced (with the
> >support of the city's two major downtown daily newspapers) that they want me
> >fired. I expect that the school board will move to try and fire me next week
> >for this action, despite my nearly 30 years of superior service in the
> >classrooms of this city.
> >
> >Needless to say, the week has been very busy. All of our staff are teachers,
> >so we're usually in classrooms while others go around and do thing to us. I
> >took off three days from work on personal business, two to go over details
> >with our lawyers and one (Friday) to be in federal court when the TRO came up
> >for a hearing.
> >
> >We are moving quickly to gather support from people both locally and
> >nationally. We will be needing expert witnesses and similar things.
> >
> >Please forward this letter to concenred friends from around the country. This
> >story is breaking as I write this letter, and I do not expect the pressure to
> >be off myself and our staff anytime soon.
> >
> >All support will be appreciated. Our legal costs are already heading towards
> >five figures. This can be sustained by a large number of concerned teachers.
> >Please don't ask why the ACLU and other establishment "progressive" thingies
> >aren't helping us, because if you haven't done a power analysis of America
> >1999 before now, I don't have time to go back over that trail.
> >
> >Another important thing is messages of support. Morale is key, and when you
> >wake up (as I did Thursday) to find that the Chicago Tribune is demanding that
> >you be fired from your teaching job and that the Chicago Sun-Times is
> >demanding that you be pilloried (but not fired, I think), it's a bit stressful
> >-- especially if you and your newspaper have just been sued for $1 million.
> >
> >Can we prevail? Of course. But we can't let one another down, and we've got to
> >organize continuously, staying in touch everywhere.
> >
> >I hope that by next week, as many people nationwide will know about Chicago's
> >"Vallas Raids" on teachers homes with your help, since I'll be quite busy
> >here.
> >
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>
> Pamela Perkins
> 3748 Jardin
> Houston, TX 77005
>
> (713) 838-9303
--
Kenneth S. Goodman, Professor, Language, Reading & Culture
504 College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
fax 520 7456895 phone 520 6217868
These are mean times- and in the mean time
We need to Learn to Live Under Water