getting NCLB on the agenda

It just makes sense when you look at the mission and goals of Beacon Press that they would want to participate in and support a movement that informs the public about the effects of NCLB on the public school system...Doesn't it?

So far...I haven't heard back from them.

Here's my letter:

After reading many books published by Beacon Press and reviewing the website, I am encouraged to find your strategic goals section. I am especially interested in number 4 (cited below.)

STRATEGIC GOALS

1) To publish books that passionately and effectively advocate these principles while engaging readers with high literary quality

2) To strive to disseminate these ideals through a broadening readership for our books and diverse audience for our authors, as well as an ever-increasing outreach through print and electronic media coverage of the books and their authors

3) To set standards of excellence in the publishing community, in terms of the content and production values of our books, in terms of our business policies and practices, and in the responsible use of natural resources

4) To grow steadily more prophetic in identifying areas of need, concern, and interest and addressing them with the most progressive and effective interventions



I also write with a particular interest in the book: Many Children Left Behind: How the No Child Left Behind Act is Damaging Our Children and Our Schools, Edited by Deborah Meier and George Wood. The Beacon review of the book includes the following passage:

This is an agenda that takes the intent of "no child left behind" from a slogan to reality. An agenda that pulls together the civil rights organizations that applaud no longer hiding our schools' failure to educate poor and minority children, the educators who work for school reform, the parents and civic groups that want better schools, and the legislators who work hard for what is best for their constituents. A movement that springs not from mandates and measurement, punishment and penalties, sanctions and closures, but rather, a movement that grows from hope and wisdom—hope that we can have the public schools our democracy requires, based on the wisdom that we have gained from schools that serve our children well regardless of race, class, gender, handicaps, or geography.

The authors of this book aim to add to this movement, as they agree with the premise that no child should be left behind, yet recognize that in NCLB many children will not only be left behind, but will be damaged as well—in ways we are just now beginning to understand.

I am writing to you, in response to your unique mission and stated goals, and to inquire about your goals and intentions to help promote the philosophy and knowledge of these particular authors on such an urgent matter as NCLB and its resulting damage in our nation's public schools.

At the fourth anniversary of the NCLB, and as the damage and destruction in our school system expands, the media's coverage of dissent is virtually nonexistent. According to Kappan's most recent survey, American parents remain largely uninformed about the rapid and dramatic changes in our schools as a result of this act. The teachers, struggling with their own energy and morale, likewise, barely have had the time to be informed about the act as many choose to simply leave the profession rather than suffer the indignities of a school "reform" dedicated to a testing industry rather than an academic or educational atmosphere. The political strength and power of the act continues to pad the pockets of educational enterprises and has, according to the academic community, (largely unread in mainstream culture,) made the educational environment for minority and other compromised subgroups worse rather than better. When legislators from all 50 states released a report critical of NCLB, it was largely ignored, buried in a brief, one paragraph notation, in a nationally acclaimed and widely read newspaper and then forgotten. Newspapers with financial relationships to television networks, to national magazines, and many with ties to auxiliary educational enterprises, no longer feel compelled to cover opinion or information which might compromise their political affiliations or financial interests. But, the media continues to supply the rhetoric and politically-motivated contention that the NCLB act has grown in success and will continue to strengthen our public schools.

I am writing to you to ask if a campaign of public and community information, which would include the voices from your published books, and other notable educational researchers and writers could be arranged to balance the information offered to the parents, the teachers and administrators, and the local politicians who also need to be informed. As I read your mission and goals, I request that you understand that the authors and advocates whose words you say you support, do not have the ability, apparently, to stage such a campaign of information, without the financial and active support of organizations, such as yours, which state that their intentions are to help identify areas of urgent need and facilitate effective interventions.

I ask you to acknowledge how urgent the situation is presently in our public schools, and ask you to imagine the future without an all out effort to promote a clear understanding of NCLB and the proposed interventions and directions to take to ensure that a progressive and adequate public education remains in place-- for our future, for our students, for our teachers, for our democracy.

Thank you for your consideration.


...and the same goes for Heinemann...(sorry for the redundancy)

Dear Publishing Staff:

After reading several books published by Heinemann's Press and reviewing the website, I am encouraged to find your company mission statement section.

Heinemann's Philosophy and Company Mission Statement
Heinemann is a publisher of professional resources and a provider of educational services for teachers, kindergarten through college. We strive to give voice to those who share our respect for the professionalism and compassion of teachers and who support teachers' efforts to help children become literate, empathetic, knowledgeable citizens. Our authors are exemplary educators eager to support the practice of other teachers through books, videos, workshops, online courses, and most recently through explicit teaching materials. Our commitment to our work and customers' enthusiastic response to our offerings has made us the leading publisher in this area. Our passion for publishing works by professionals for professionals also informs our trade publishing, which includes books for theatre professionals, general books on education, and quality works of world literature.
I am most interested in your stand on the federal NCLB act and it's impact on educators, parents, students, and communities across the country. As I am sure you are aware, a reform movement is growing that springs not from mandates and measurement, punishment and penalties, sanctions and closures, but rather, a movement that grows from an interest in the survival of public schools.

Can you afford to ignore such an urgent matter as NCLB and its resulting damage in our nation's public schools?

At the fourth anniversary of the NCLB, and as the damage and destruction in our school system expands, the media's coverage of dissent is virtually nonexistent. According to Kappan's most recent survey, American parents remain largely uninformed about the rapid and dramatic changes in our schools as a result of this act. The teachers, struggling with their own energy and morale, likewise, barely have had the time to be informed about the act as many choose to simply leave the profession rather than suffer the indignities of a school "reform" dedicated to a testing industry rather than an academic or educational atmosphere. The political strength and power of the act continues to pad the pockets of educational enterprises and has, according to the academic community, (largely unread in mainstream culture,) made the educational environment for minority and other compromised subgroups worse rather than better. When legislators from all 50 states released a report critical of NCLB, it was largely ignored, buried in a brief, one paragraph notation, in a nationally acclaimed and widely read newspaper and then forgotten. Newspapers with financial relationships to television networks, to national magazines, and many with ties to auxiliary educational enterprises, no longer feel compelled to cover opinion or information which might compromise their political affiliations or financial interests. But, the media continues to supply the rhetoric and politically-motivated contention that the NCLB act has grown in success and will continue to strengthen our public schools.

I am writing to you to ask if a campaign of public and community information, which would include the voices from your published books, and other notable educational researchers and writers could be arranged to balance the information offered to the parents, the teachers and administrators, and the local politicians who also need to be informed. As I read your mission, I request that you understand that the authors and advocates whose words you say you support, do not have the ability, apparently, to stage such a campaign of information, without the financial and active support of organizations, such as yours, which state that their intentions are to help identify areas of urgent need and facilitate effective interventions.

At least two of the following authors are local to the Washington/Baltimore metro area. I wonder if it is likely that as activists, they would be interested in promoting their books as well as informing the public at a regional forum with your support.

I ask you to acknowledge how urgent the situation is presently in our public schools, and ask you to imagine the future without an all out effort to promote a clear understanding of NCLB and the proposed interventions and directions to take to ensure that a progressive and adequate public education remains in place-- for our future, for our students, for our teachers, for our democracy.

Thank you for your consideration.




Reading for Profit: How the Bottom Line Leaves Kids Behind
Bess Altwerger
Paperback / Grade Level: K-6

Why is reading instruction so often focused on the mechanical transmission of skills rather than on the development of meaningful literacy? To understand why, we need to know who: who decides how children will be taught, and who benefits from that decision? Reading for Profit demonstrates conclusively that the pedagogical is political.
Alfie Kohn, Author of The Case Against Standardized Testing and The Schools Our Children Deserve

Filled with teachers' voices and an eye-opening analysis, this timely book reveals the corporate assault on schools, children's reading education, and teachers' effectiveness.
Gerald Coles, Author of Reading the Naked Truth and Misreading Reading

The Manufactured Crisis and The War Against America's Public Schools were angry books. This is a furious book. The extensive evidence it mounts to describe this attempt renders it an accurate book.
Gerald W. Bracey, Author of Setting the Record Straight, Second Edition

This book documents the corporate connections and exposes their motivations, documents the fear and frustration that experienced and highly competent teachers feel, and repeatedly and thoroughly documents the failings of the programs. These are the voices the public needs to hear.
Stephen Krashen, Author of The Power of Reading, Second Edition

Kudos to Bess Altwerger for this remarkable collection.... This book arms us to fight back.
Susan Ohanian, Author of Why Is Corporate America Bashing Our Public Schools? and One Size Fits Few

On the Death of Childhood and the Destruction of Public Schools: The Folly of Today's Education Policies and Practices
Gerald W. Bracey
Paperback / Grade Level: K-12

"No matter what he's called, Gerald Bracey IS public schools' best defender. And in this book, he uses his considerable writing and research skills on their behalf. With authority, sensitivity, and a good sense of humor, he dismantles the negative PR our public education system has endured and does it with hardcore data, not phony "science."

Bracey delivers the statistics and skillful analysis needed to win the numbers game that plays out daily in the popular press. Drawing on data from a variety of reputable sources, he proves that public schools are doing much better than critics claim, some indicators even showing record highs. He takes on the testing movement in numerous chapters, offers data that provide different perspectives than usually seen, and reviews the history of public schools, showing how they have included more and more students while raising achievement levels, too. He questions the so-called "failing schools," discusses the phenomenon of "summer loss," provides international comparisons, and presents data to argue that investing in universal quality preschool pays off in the long run. He even attempts to enter the mind of the father of American public education, Horace Mann, to see what he might think about the "nuttiness of today's policies."

Bracey believes that our only hope to save the public school system is for teachers, teacher educators, and administrators to help speed up the needed perspective transformation. And they can begin to do it by reading this book and resuming their rightful position in educating students.