Heights Coalition for Public Education sponsors community forums

The Heights Coalition for Public Education will sponsor a free community forum on Monday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Social Room at Cleveland Heights High School. The public is invited to join the conversation about current state and federal education policy that emphasizes testing and the privatization of public education.

The forum—titled The Myth of Failing Public Schools—will feature Rob Weil, national director of field programs for the American Federation of Teachers. Weil’s presentation will cover the history of the current test-and-punish culture, and take a closer look at misleading international comparisons based on test scores. Small group conversations will follow his presentation.

The Heights Coalition for Public Education was formed this past spring following the community reading of Diane Ravitch’s Reign of Error. More than 130 community members participated in three guided discussions of the book, which describes federal policies that encourage the privatization of public education, and the controversial use of test scores to make high-stakes decisions.

CH-UH school district parents, teachers and concerned residents, who make up the coalition, believe that the current accountability system, i.e., testing, is not an accurate or meaningful measurement of school quality, nor does it reflect community values, and that the current over-reliance on tests and test prep narrows the curriculum, harming all students.

The coalition is seeking endorsements of its position statement, which can be found at http://chuh.net/coalition. This statement calls for an end to high-stakes testing, equitable funding for public schools, teacher-driven assessment of students to inform instruction, a halt on the transfer of public funds to for-profit charter schools, and trust and investment in teachers as respected professionals.

Co-sponsors of the event include the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union, Reaching Heights, FutureHeights and the CH-UH PTA Council. Additional forums are being planned for January and March 2015.