A special edition of my “Sic’ ‘Em Saturday. My thanks to whomever created the graphic you see above. What you’ll find my anti CCSS warriors, is a letter I’d love to see written to any of those CCSS assessment writers.
To my Mom or Dad,
I HATE the TESTS you write! If you think I get an exemption from the assessments, I don’t! I AM included in the masses of test takers and/or assessments you’ve created. I know you’ve done your best to raise me to be my own person. There are many things I tell you, but there are many things I don’t. I can’t possibly talk to you about this, so I’m writing it all down.
Mom, Dad, I do not understand why or how you can be proud of what you’ve done to my friends and I.
You’ve told me Common Core State Standards weren’t that bad; that they’d help me become a better student. You told me the work would ‘toughen me up’, that I needed to stop complaining or crying so much. I HAVE tried. I still feel stupid. Especially when those tests I saw you writing come up. You tell me you love me, yet I’m to answer questions I don’t know? When I told you why my scores were so low because I hadn’t been taught about the test subject yet, did you listen? My friends thought because you are my parent, I’d know the answers. They don’t understand how you could be so mean. I don’t get it either.
I’m to care about the environment. I’m to care about others. That’s what you’ve taught me at home. Yet, I see how what you do is harming others every day. How do you sleep at night? I know I’m very sad that you are being so unfair to me when you make assessments so hard no one passes them. How does that make me tough? I try my best, but it’s not good enough. I wish I hadn’t been born sometimes. Sometimes I even wish you weren’t my parent.
I’ve got some kids at school I know who are telling all of us about those who’ve discovered how my privacy is being invaded. How, all those things I don’t want others to know about me are being shared around the world. Is this true?! Mom, Dad, you KNOW I hate that. Why are you allowing this to happen to me?! I don’t go around sharing your secrets (at least not to the entire world), so WHY are you writing programs that share MY stuff?! You tell me to respect you, but how can I? You aren’t respecting me..or anyone, when you violate my privacy.
Another thing: all these tests, programs you write, and assessment stuff you help create; you’re always gone or on the phone with someone else. You don’t know I hear you talk, but I do. Who is Pearson? Why do you like him more than me? Who is he? Why do you go to his house so much? I wish you want to spend time with me. I miss our days where we could just see each other. If you’re not on the phone, computer, or gone, you’re too tired to hang out. If this is being an adult, I’m not sure I want to be one. You taught me I’m not supposed to cheat, but I see you do it everyday. I see you cheating all of us with your work. If this is what productive, successful work is like, I don’t think I will do it. I don’t like what I see at all in my future. Especially when I don’t see the justice you keep telling me I’m to strive for.
Mom, Dad: give us justice in our education; not just tests. Let us see the justice of your love and care, not the injustice of tests mattering more than we do.
*This letter is especially dedicated to all those students who didn’t ask for school to be like this, but must suffer it on a daily basis.
The problem is the backers of common core like Bill Gates make sure their children are not subjected to common core because they are “generally more advanced,” as the Gate’s expensive private school wrote on their webpage.