The Absurdity of "Common Sense" Editorializing and Commentary

Throughout my life, I have managed to play nice through many political, economic and social conflicts. However, nowadays I feel myself being pushed further toward the "gloves off" mode when it comes to education policy and reform. A major aspect of this clearly has to do with the prominence of the topic in our state and national discussions. Education has become a lightning rod issue that does not parse along clear ideological lines. Regardless of political party affiliation, you can, and will, find a wide array of viewpoints from just about everyone on the subject of schools, assessments, Common Core, teacher effectiveness and so much more. As the national discussion ramps up, I find myself increasingly agitated with the absurdity of opinions based on the writer's belief in common sense approaches and a lack of evidence-based inquiry to support opinions or solve problems.

I get it. Our media has shifted from fact-based reporting to opinion-based ranting. A place where "thinking" something  has relevance means it actually does. Where scientific evidence or facts are antithetical to opinion. But having an opinion without adhering to fact, or even worse- ignoring facts, just corrodes your argument. And when it comes to education policy and reform, these United States are filled with corroded individuals whose opinions are factless and detrimental to the common good. In fact, it seems the only necessary requirement for having an opinion or being an expert on public education is having sat in a classroom.

As the rhetoric becomes increasingly hostile and divisive, I get the sense that the multitude of teacher "haters" prominent in society today were the students who were designated as, "Does not play well with others", when they were in elementary school. You remember them. The kid who refused to share with his kind classmates. The kid who argued with the teacher over seemingly inane issues. The kid who quit playing when things didn't go their way . . . and took their ball with them. The kid who fought for a position on a topic and wouldn't back down even when presented with evidence by his or her teacher. Governor Cuomo was most assuredly a "Does not play well with others" kid. Even if his teachers feared having to write it on any report, you know that everyone else in class knew it.

Newspaper editors and editorial boards seem to have a knack for jumping into the "Does not play well with others" fray with alarming frequency. The most recent ridiculous and adversarial screed by our local daily newspaper editor, Ken Tingly of the Glens Falls Post-Star, is just that kind of glib, "common sense" reaction to the rise of the opt-out movement. Ken used this weeks editorial opportunity to shamelessly exert his version of common sense on the good people of our fine state who chose, I think admirable, to opt their children out of the state ELA and math assessments (for the record, my wife and I did not opt our 3rd and 5th graders out). In  Opting out of Common Core reaches hysterical proportions, Ken targets the "mass hysteria" of parents who go crazy at the mere thought of any evaluation of their children. His commentary flips from blaming pandering parents for not being tough enough on their kids; to extolling self-gratifying bravado for his brand of real world parenting. He further belittles parents and teachers in what has become the fall-back commentary intended to minimize people- self-interest without rationale:

Whether it is their playing time in Little League or the number of gold stars on an art project, parents are often the least qualified to judge how their children are measuring up in the real world.

So to ensure they had even less information about their child’s development, hundreds of parents across the region boycotted Common Core testing designed to give educators valuable information about the students they are teaching . . . . I don’t see the value of opting out of anything in life. If I did, I would have left my dentist years ago.

I’m of the “If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger” mindset.

Your teacher doesn’t like you? Get over it. You are going to have a boss someday who doesn’t like you.

The test is unfair? That’s too bad. In college, they will give you an impossible amount of work to do in a short period of time.

Can’t do it? Somebody else will.

Now, I can agree that our society has become too heavy in the helicopter-parent realm- after all, I'm a soccer coach. But the fact that 8 year old's should somehow deal with 8-9 hours of testing today because they may go to college someday and they need to have the gumption to compete, is particularly absurd. We've seen this same "minimize the opposition's argument" propaganda tactic used by Governor Cuomo in several interviews leading up to the state budget fight:

The governor, at two separate events, reiterated his argument that teachers' unions have opposed his efforts to implement mandatory teacher evaluations in New York because “their opinion is they'd rather not be evaluated by anyone ever, period.

“I understand that position,” he said during an event in Plattsburgh. “I don't know that I like to be evaluated. I don't know that anyone likes to be evaluated. That having to run for office every four years and go before the voters and explain what you did—if I didn't have to do that, I'd be OK with it, frankly. Take my word for it that I'm doing a good job and let me stay until I want to leave. But that's not how professions work.”

The problem is, none of this has anything to do with the real issue of testing avoidance, the opt-out movement or teacher assessment. And to prove his point, Ken throws in a few urban legends to make his point:

1. "But the basis of Common Core — to make our children thinkers instead of memorizers — is sound."- By attaching tests to the curriculum, the state has nullified this aspect of the Common Core. Furthermore, there are sound pedagogical challenges to the effectiveness of the Core in achieving these goals.
2. "For some time, we've watched our education standards in this country slip compared to other countries. That’s a problem in today’s world economy."- Facts do not support this convenient and misguided assertion. When accounting for poverty rates and economic status, the United States ranks near the top in every measure. The United States has one of the highest child poverty rates in the world- which is a disgrace in and of itself- and we do a better job at teaching ALL children than most countries in the world.

The opt-out movement is far too diverse and far too serious to sum up in such meaningless commentary as being only driven by well-intentioned but fearful parents and the teacher's unions that support them. Across the spectrum of advocates there are parents and teachers who disagree with the use of these low-stakes tests in evaluating teacher effectiveness. There are parents and teachers who see the tests as being a tool for destroying public education. There are parents and teachers who are dismayed by the extreme amount of time devoted to test prep at the expense of other curriculum areas and the arts. And of course, there are parents and teachers who understand (and fear) the power of corporate profiteering, greed and the access to student data that threatens our democratic way of life.

However, the biggest mistake Ken makes is in not understanding the basic fundamentals of what is happening. He makes the same mistake that many do, and in doing so, he probably pisses off some of the most ardent Common Core supporters. The Common Core (CCSS) and the state tests ARE NOT THE SAME THING. The CCSS are a set of national standards, established in a flawed manner, but with the intent that, “The Common Core focuses on developing the critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills students will need to be successful.”. Education standards establish objectives in educational attainment. They may include curricular areas to be covered and benchmarks to assess student progress. What the standards DO NOT do is establish state assessments tied to teacher effectiveness. In a nutshell Ken, people cannot opt-out of the standards, but they can opt-out of the tests that put their children through a testing program more time intensive than passing the New York State bar exam.

In the end, Ken Tingley and his ilk of maliciously ill-informed apologists, do nothing more than further misinformation and perform the bidding of those groups who would prefer to profit from our children rather than actually have them learn something and become productive citizens. And for people like Ken- anti-union, anti-teacher, anti-logic, anti-everything- the fight between the doers and the takers helps support the goals of those who strive to establish a plutonomy at any cost.

Common sense as a concept has been co-opted by individuals and groups to be a means for coming up with solutions or actions that seem natural to most people. However, as is generally the case, this one-sided use of common sense often neglects facts and/or scientific explanation. Ken's brand of common sense- that tough-guy, real American, and predominantly grunty male version- builds on false premises and a multitude of fallacies. As a journalist, we should expect better from people like Ken Tingley who have the power to shape and shift pubic opinion.  Unfortunately, in this case, as with so many that deal with public goods and particularly public education, Ken's personal bias toward the pull yourself up by the bootstrap crowd is a dangerous shift toward a divided community.

If we're basing our societal guidance on common sense, here's what I believe makes sense to most people:

1. Intellectual sense and science tells us that many students will not try to do well on no-stakes tests. As the governor said himself this week, the "tests are meaningless for students".
2. Intellectual sense and science tells us that these assessments provide a snapshot, not a true gauge of student learning. 
3. Intellectual sense and science tells us that each student cohort varies in ability and therefore constant growth (year-to-year) is irrational.
4. Intellectual sense and science tells us that poverty is a real indicator of student achievement.
5. Intellectual sense and science tells us that, due to these concerns, basing teacher effectiveness on test results is unreliable.

So enough is enough from the "Does not play well with others" common sense crowd. It's high time professionals and experts establish themselves as the arbiters of the truth in education policy. Let's call out those who fight from their self-appointed position of authority as being what they truly are- self-serving, uninformed, know nothings- with an ax to grind or a buck to make. Ken Tingley doesn't give a rat's behind about student achievement. What's his real motivation? Knocking whiny parents and unionized teachers off their perch? Standing up for his mildly-libertarian version of common sense? We may never know, but you can be sure, it has nothing to do with what's truly best for all members of society- just the one's tough enough to gut it out in his.