Take Time to Vote

This Tuesday, Nov. 4th, is election day for Missourians.  Many important issues will be on the ballot. 
The statistics on voter turn-out are often shocking.  What surprises me even more is the number of Christians that are registered to vote, but do not.  Maybe this shouldn't surprise me, but it does.  My Christian upbringing included lessons on responsibility.  I learned at an early age that rights and responsibilities went hand-in-hand. 

Amendment Three is of particular interest to me. Those in support of Amendment Three would have us believe that things in our schools will improve if it passes. They want to perpetuate the myth that it will help "weed out bad teachers".  They want people to believe that more resources will be available for their children.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

We have already seen the devastating effects of Common Core. Common Core is just one example of government intervention in education.  Standards are being "dumbed down".  Buzz words "rigor" and "relevance" are just as annoying as a mosquito. And the only connection they truly have to Common Core and Standards-Based Grading is to buzz around our ears.  There is no rigor in the lower expectations of Common Core and the Standards-Based Grading component.  There is no real-world "relevance".  Under some models of Standards-Based Grading students are allowed to turn in any assignment they choose to turn in, whenever they choose to turn it in. I can't think of any real-world connection. In the real-world we all have expectations and deadlines. School is a student's training ground for the real-world.  To lower our expectations and eliminate due dates, does not prepare our students for the real-world. 

Amendment Three will not "weed out bad teachers". It will tie a teacher's future employment to test scores.   When you are dealing with people, you have to consider all the factors, not just the end result.  You can't reasonably associate a teacher's entire year of teaching with the results of one test. I've seen teachers, including myself, pore their heart into every lesson, only to have low test scores.  A teacher's absence due to attending district mandated meetings or PD costs instruction time. Or what about the student's home-life?  Children who are worried about being hungry, being warm, or where they are going to sleep tonight, do not care about standardized testing. They have more important things on their minds.  What about schools that enforce Standards-Based Grading? If there are no deadlines and expectations are reduced to a yes or a no, students will soon learn this and lose their desire to achieve. 

I can also tell you, from personal experience, that the majority of resources that your child uses comes from two sources: Your tax dollars and Your child's teacher.  In over 20 years, I never did see an influx of resources due to a new government policy or amendment.  If it weren't for caring teachers, students would go without many resources. 

So, on Tuesday, they want me to vote yes on Amendment Three to continue this downward spiral of public education?  I. Don't. Think. So!  I intend to exercise my right to vote. I will also put those early lessons of responsibility to good use by researching the candidates and issues.  I urge you to do the same.