Here’s the National PTA’s position on testing:
The National PTA opposes:
*federal legislation and/or regulations that mandate standardized testing or would lead to such testing;
*federal policies that mandate comparisons of states, school districts or individual schools.
Wait a minute. Obviously parents, and pretty much everyone else — though you wouldn’t know it from the hyperbolic tone of the current debate — thinks there is a lot more to schools than test scores. But isn’t information — including test scores — to make such comparisons, and the comparisons themselves, exactly what parents do want? Ask any realtor for God’s sake. For that matter, how do people who work at the National PTA choose schools for their own kids? Randomly?
Oh wait, nevermind, dumb question, that’s the NEA’s position on testing! Is it the political manifestation of the Stockholm Syndrome or something else? PTA leaves an obvious state loophole with the wording of this policy, but they have not been doing much lobbying of state legislatures for this either…
PTA also has a new poll out about NCLB and what parents want. Except Eduwonk can’t locate the poll, only the highlights in a press release. Even those are not a slam dunk for the anti-NCLB crowd…when the NEA buys a national interest group, don’t they expect them to stay bought? Is there a warranty?
Update: One urban parent writes: At my kids’ school, parents would trip over themselves trying to get this info.