Instead, after reading about the coming Tsunami of Wisconsin-based republican education "accountability"
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told reporters he wants to start with a school accountability bill.
and the proposed "holy crap we better hide" fight back strategy of some school boards,
We will probably hunker down over next couple years in terms of educational initiatives the legislature decides to put us through
I offer the following advice.
"Hunkering down" has to be one of the most damaging strategies for anybody or any organization that has the democratic and constitutional responsibility to do what is best for children. Just the idea that the new found power elite are proposing educational "accountability" after 30 years of failed accountability should motivate all that care about children and public schools to regroup, organize, strategize, and then counter attack.
Winning an election does not give permission to anti-intellectual, political hacks to prescribe abusive accountability schemes that only hurt children, teachers, and communities and funnel tax dollars to political donors.
Hunker down? No! My daughter and son don't need spineless adults unwilling to protect the only chance they have at a critical and powerful democratic education. My children deserve (and so do all Wisconsin children) advocacy and action! Vos and all the other accountability hawks hellbent on killing childhood are the ones that need to be held accountable. For 30 years they have defunded and redirected precious resources to an accountability scam designed to enrich test and data companies and dismantle OUR public schools. NO MORE! Test and punish accountability has been a disaster!
It's time for an accountability system that holds legislators accountable for making sure all children come to school well fed, well clothed, warm, healthy, and protected from the trauma of living in a state of perpetual uncertainty—poverty. If this new set of power pawns fail to pry our most vulnerable from the trappings of generational racism and destroy the economic system that only rewards their campaign funders then they must be the ones held accountable, judged "legislatively inadequate" and stripped of all legislative power. We must get rid of "failing" legislators.
And for those that choose to "hunker down" while the rest of us fight for children, please truly "hunker down" and stay out of the way. We have children and a public school system to save! And WE GIVE IT ALL!
