Staples teacher Jerry Kuroghlian: he’s starting to relate to Frankenstein.WN photo Parents, teachers, and others interested in education held “house parties for great public schools” across the country Wednesday night to discuss education issues in the presidential campaign. One session was hosted by two Westport middle school teachers.
An Associated Press reporter attended the meeting at the Trumbull home of Stacy and Lloyd Stableford, who both teach at Coleytown Middle School.
The gatherings were part of a national effort to spark awareness of education issues in a presidential campaign dominated by war, unemployment and the economy.
The parties were sponsored by organizations including the National Education Association and MoveOn.org which said there were 3,800 such discussions Wednesday night.
Among those at the meeting was the principal of Bridgeport’s Six to Six Interdistrict Magnet School, Leslie Alexander.
She has worked hard to make sure students and parents understand the federal No Child Left Behind law, the federal education reform measure. She just worries that voters don’t get it, the AP reported.
She couldn’t help but wave her hands and raise her voice during a discussion of education issues. If her students’ test scores come back too low, she’s worried that Six to Six will be labeled a failing school.
And that means the suburban kids might leave for schools considered higher-performing under the law, leaving the poorest kids behind.
Stacy and Lloyd Stableford: hosted meeting at their Trumbull home. WestportNow.com photo
“I’m very frightened,” she said. “I am worried if we are labeled as failing, our suburban parents are going to think twice.”
Participants at the meeting also talked about the consequences of education getting lost behind a political agenda seemingly dominated by Iraq, the report said.
“It seems like so much of the dialogue in the past couple of weeks has been about Iraq and their military careers,” said Lloyd Stableford, who has taught social studies for 40 years.
A liberal-leaning coalition behind the meetings wanted to get people talking about what it would take to improve schools, but also sought to get more money.
Suggested talking points provided to party hosts sent a message that sweeping improvement demands greater investment in preschool, after school, school safety and teacher training. the report said.
But at the Stableford’s, teachers and labor union officials were mainly concerned with ways to reach out to parents, PTA groups and others about the consequences surrounding No Child Left Behind, according to the AP.
They also wanted their conversation to be taken out of the kitchen and onto political podiums.
Gerry Kuroghlian, a teacher at Westport’s Staples High School, helped create the state’s standardized test in English years ago.
But because the test scores now determine if his school passes or fails under the federal law, he says he’s starting to relate to Frankenstein, a staple in his lessons.
“I created the monster,” he said, saying tests shouldn’t be the only way his students are measured.
Although organizers billed their event as a night of nonpartisan parties, their individual political ties are clear, the AP said.
One sponsor, the National Education Association, has put its weight as the country’s largest teachers union behind Kerry. MoveOn.org, another event sponsor, has spent at least $10 million on ads to help Kerry through its three affiliates.
Rep. John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who helped write the federal education law, said the coalition amounts to a smear campaign by “radical left-wing” groups. His office set up a Web site just to counter the house-party coalition and its views about the law.
