Reblogged from the Answer Sheet by Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post
Wendy Birket is the mother of three children attending Orange County Public Schools in Florida, which is one of the top dozen largest school districts in the country. In this post, she writes an open letter to Florida Gov. Rick Scott reflecting her deep concern about the priorities of policymakers.
Birket wrote this amid continuing problems in Orange County, as well as in other counties in Florida (and other states), with teacher shortages as well as a growing rebellion against the state’s standardized test-based school and educator accountability system. In September, for example, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents issued a statement saying that superintendents had “lost confidence” in the accountability system and called for it to be suspended. Activist parents in Florida have organized a number of groups across the state to fight against the privatization of public education and the misuse of standardized tests.
Birket’s letter to Scott speaks directly to these issues. She published it on Facebook, and I am using it here with permission. Here’s the letter:
Dear Rick Scott, Governor of Florida
Please buy my child a teacher.
I pay taxes and send my children to public school.
Please buy my child a teacher. A child whisperer. A trained, energetic, enthusiastic, loving, educated, invested adult to grow a relationship with my child in the pursuit of learning.
Buying my child a new curriculum will not improve her relationship with learning.