\doc\web\99\12\fedcard.txt
Date sent:      	Tue, 17 Aug 1999 17:04:19 -0400
To:             	71524.2205@compuserve.com
From:           	SNOLETS@aol.com (by way of Fred Battey <fredb001@sg23.com>)
Subject:        	Re: Britian Cuts Back On History


  Hi there!  I wanted to thank everyone for such a warm welcome to your
education web loop.  To give you a little more background on myself, my
family and I live in Washington State, and  I became involved in educating
myself on education reform, after being hit in the face with it in
September 1998, when a new report card was introduced to our elementary
schools.  It introduced a numerical system of scoring "mastery" on a scale
of 1-4, 1 being the lowest score, and 4 being the highest, to be achieved
by those who consistently do work above "grade level expectation".  We
were told that ANY child who received a 2 score or lower, in the reading
portion of the card, by the end of the year would be retained and repeat
their grade.
     Well, to make a long story short, there was much displeasure, and
     most
all children received 3's by the end of the school year.  Many parents who
spoke out against this new reporting system, and the philosophy behind it,
when they wouldn't just go away, were first subjected with assimilation.
When that didn't work, they were ignored; and later intimidated and cast
as "troublemakers" and "concerned about their agenda, not children", and
so on. However, on August 9th, a report card template that has letter
grades reinstated and fuzzy language removed was reluctantly voted in by
our school board in a 4-1 vote.  The bad news is they tacked a waiver on
the deal, and now have dumped the assimilation process on the principals
of the district. So the battle isn't over yet; we won an important
scrimmage,  though.
   The article on history being cut back or out of curriculium, in
   England,
just blew me away!  I have been doing some reading on the Third way
political philosophy, and also in what UNESCO has been trying to impose
for years, and to read an article about it happening in England sure hit
home to me.  In my kids' classrooms, they learn little to no history or
science.  What they learn, they learn at home.  This has disturbed me the
last 2 years, but I didn't know exactly why; now I know why!
   Again, thank you for the warm welcome.
Lisa Lewis