Washington State Parents Involved in Education (WAPIE) is a new chapter affiliate of the United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE), which according to their website is a:
“nonprofit, nonpartisan, nationwide coalition of state leaders focused on restoring local control of education by eradicating federal intrusion. State leaders from around the country fed up with being ignored on education policy have joined forces to abolish the US Education Department and put an end to all federal education mandates. USPIE will endeavor to inform Americans of the trillions of dollars wasted on federal education in the last 35 years with nothing to show for it but stagnant test scores and declining test scores. It is the goal of USPIE to return American’s education to its proper local roots and restore parental authority over their children’s education.”
The USPIE state chapters sent a candidate survey to many Federal, State/Local candidates all over the country asking them to read and sign the pledge. You can see the list of national signers here: http://www.uspie.org/pledge-signers.html
The distinct Federal and State/Local written pledges can be found here: http://www.uspie.org/resources.html
Note: USPIE/WAPIE does not endorse candidates. The only signers in Washington State are: Lieutenant Governor candidate, Marty McClendon and Erin Smith Aboudara who is a House candidate in the 11th Legislative District.
WAPIE recently received responses from Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) candidates Chris Reykdal and Erin Jones. Neither agreed to sign the pledge…but…they did explain why.
Chris Reykdal:
“I like it but it’s too absolute. I agree with civil rights enforcement in our schools and a few other federal issues. So I can’t 100% reject the Feds. I can get there on testing, teacher eval, curriculum, and other clear 10th amendment subjects, but there is some small role for USDOE.”
Erin Jones:
- “I was at OSPI during RTTT. It was a horrible experience! And almost every speech I have delivered, I have spoken about the importance of leveraging my role as the key advocate with both federal and state government. We absolutely must stop the bullying that has come from the federal government to states. “
- “I wish I could put a moratorium on all state mandates as well! The state legislature is not fully funding schools, and yet they continue to pass laws without resources to support them! And my opinion, this is just as irresponsible as what the federal government is doing.”
- Erin’s conclusion: “”I can’t sign this, I don’t think. Something may come along from the Feds that is good (haven’t seen much yet, but I don’t want to operate as if the Feds are inherently bad). I’m absolutely going to fight against further infringement by the government and am absolutely committed to not repeating NCLB! ESSA does have the potential to become NCLB#2. Randy (Dorn) is supposed to turn in a draft in December. I’m going to fight that. You, the people of the state, should be defining great public education, not the Feds or me. I want to ensure your voices inform the new ESSA. However long it takes to listen to the voices of parents…I’m going to slow down the process. We have one chance to get this right! I am also determined to ensure the state assessment we are “given” meets our needs. For years, we have been just taking the test as it’s been given. There are issues with the platform and other glitches. They should give us a test that works!Finally, I will be advocating for ELL students to have 2 years in the country (at least) before they’re expected to test. Oh, and we should be using tests for SPED students that match their IEPs (which may mean no testing at all). “
WAPIE Chapter Co-President remarks:
“We appreciate that both SPI candidates responded to the candidate pledge (while not formally signing it) with their statements and it shows why the work of our grassroots organization is important and relevant. Nearly a year ago, a coalition was formed to try and stop the ESSA from being rammed through when the conference committee report barely had anytime for extensive reading, let alone any serious review. Now we have various teaching and professional organizations heralding how wonderful ESSA will be to replace NCLB. The reality is that there is an illusion of a return to local control when it is evident to not be the case. We are now seeing nearly forty years of failed policies of the US Dept. of Education and we will continue to call for candidates and elected officials to help us #StopFedEd.
Ultimately the only way for the Federal Government to have a “small role” is to shut down the unconstitutional U.S. Dept of Education. The 10th Amendment pertaining to “Rights Reserved To States Or People” was developed for good reason!
As the pledge states, we need our candidates/elected officials to reject all federal mandates tied to federal funding. We need them to acknowledge the slippery slope of the private-public partnership which imposes federally mandated curriculum, high stakes standardized tests, and all illegal and harmful mandates from the U.S. Dept of Education. We need a Congress to stop rubber stamping harmful legislation to the tune of kids being mere cogs in the 21st century managed global economy.”
As the election gets near this may be our final blog post specifically on the Washington State Superintendent race. We hope our articles have given you food for thought and helped you decide who to support. Stay tuned for more stories…you can even suggest what you want to learn about.
SWWEducation.org
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