Common Core has been a source of contention since its implementation began, for a variety of reasons. Many of these have been politically charged, and many quickly dismissed as provably untrue. Like any educational system, or any system, though, Common Core has its flaws and faults — and now a group of teachers in New York is suing, after being forbidden to discuss these flaws as they see them.
According to Education News, the gag order centers around teachers who administrate or grade tests. While the order is ostensibly intended to protect test materials to allow them to be recycled for future years, the teachers argue that they are prevented from discussing concerns or voicing criticisms.
In the New York State United Teachers’ public statement, the union (the major teacher’s union in N.Y.) calls attention to the stance of the Supreme Court on teachers’ ability to speak about educational issues.
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly noted, as recently as June, that teachers are the members of the community most likely to have informed opinions about educational issues. Thus, their uninhibited speech holds special value in public debate.
The union says that in 2014, for the first time ever, teachers were prevented from reading exams, and those who were directly involved in scoring were made to sign confidentiality agreements, preventing them from discussing the material with other teachers.
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They’d like the court to declare the ban on discussing the contents of the test unconstitutional, and to issue an injunction that would prevent teachers from being punished for discussion of the questions.
This lawsuit coincides closely with the Washington Post‘s publication of a blogger’s story about her own run-in with Common Core. In this parent’s story, her child brought home a test with a correct answer marked wrong.
When the teacher was contacted, it was discovered that there was an error in the answer key, and the grade was quickly and easily corrected.
However, she points out, these are the days of high-stakes testing, on which students and teachers are heavily judged — and a mistake that can occur on a minor test can be replicated on a major exam:
Tests we parents will never get to see.
Tests we parents will never get to review.
Tests we parents will never get to question.
These are also tests that, as these New York teachers point out, they will be grading, yet unable to discuss, even if they find blatant errors in them.
It will be left to the court to determine whether Common Core tests can really be protected by a gag order, or whether this is a violation of these teachers’ freedom of speech — and their duty to teach.
[photo credit: Old Shoe Woman]
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