Open letter in support of Dr. Michelle Fine:
We are concerned educators and scholars from around the country, voicing support for our colleague, Distinguished Professor Dr. Michelle Fine of The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
When, along with other Montclair, New Jersey, parents, students, teachers (organized as Montclair Cares About Schools - MCAS), union activists and civil rights activists, Michelle raised critical questions about the validity of a new k-12 testing regime, she became a target of attacks by corporate education reformers who supported the new testing regimen.*
The attacks that Michelle is now enduring lend new meaning to the notion of “high stakes.” A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed anonymously for more than 1,000 of Michelle’s emails from her City University of New York email address. Recently, a slanderous video was made from material in these personal emails. This video is as profoundly disturbing as it is absurd, and we are shocked by these inaccurate, personal, and baseless attacks.
Michelle is internationally recognized for her passionate scholarship on educational and racial justice. From spearheading school restructuring in Philadelphia in the 1980s to being an expert witness in education discrimination cases to doing ground-breaking research into the "opportunity gap" in public schools to helping to develop the nationally regarded New York Performance Standards Consortium, Michelle has spent her career working with teachers, students, and parents to build schools that celebrate teaching and learning, and that foster inquiry, creativity, inclusion, and equity for all students, especially those who have been most marginalized.
It is appalling that her efforts in support of public education in Montclair have been decontextualized and twisted in such a malicious and cowardly fashion. The underhanded tactics to intimidate and silence Michelle are unacceptable. Such tactics are also resulting in a ripple effect: many social scientists deeply engaged in community work now understand the capacity of privatized interests to malign those at all levels of public education, and the ease with which the public is misinformed in the name of equity and children's best interests. And, now attacks on public intellectuals in higher education are linked to the corporate assault on k-12 education.
Nationally and internationally renowned educators, students, university faculty, and advocates have taken notice, and we are in intent on speaking up. Michelle's work is an exemplar of true education reform: we stand behind Michelle - her work, her convictions, and her values.
*For additional details, see the following:
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/29_03/29-...
http://dianeravitch.net/?s=hissy+fit
P.S. - This petition hosting website may ask you for a donation. You are under no obligation to donate and donations go to the company ipetitions.com
Updates
July 10, 2015
ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE JOINED THE FIGHT FOR MICHELLE!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE AND I AM BLOWN AWAY BY THE STRENGTH OF OUR COMMUNITY!!!
Reached 1,000 supporters
July 8, 2015
Reached 100 supporters
July 6, 2015
473 Comments
We need to assure the reach of creators of high-stakes testing do not silence our right to voice our concerns. Anonymous requests for information means that the exchange of information becomes one-sided. The bullying of education professionals must stop.
I have followed this outrageous abuse of freedom of speech. Michelle is well within her rights to comment on issues of educational matters as part of the scope of her professional standing. As you can see, I have no problem using my GC address in such matters.
I have had the distinct honor of working with Michelle at the New York Performance Standards Consortium. Her integrity and passionate advocacy for public education are unparalleled. I only wish there were more Michelles to speak truth to power.
The assault on public school educators has got to end. Such slander against Michelle Fine is simply an attempt to intimidate discredit her and all education experts who speak out on behalf of public schools and the students they serve.
I met Dr. Fine at a conference at UPenn years ago and was impressed the creativity, drive and brilliance in her praxis. Shame on anyone who takes advantage of our transparency laws to attack the personal life of such a wonderful thinker, educator and advocate.
Michelle Fine is a distinguished scholar whose work I have relied on as a reporter on education issues repeatedly. Her expertise, passion and commitment to a more just school system for all, not just for some, is commendable and should be valued, not attacked.
We can't allow any citizen's voice to be silenced on matters of public policy. When a citizen's voice is actually an informed voice, it becomes even more imperative that her or his voice be heard. Dr. Fine has my fullest support. Corporate ownership is NOT the solution to the egregious problems we have in our systems of collective learning. Look at what they've done through their ownership of the media. An educated population is not in their interest.
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Open letter in support of Dr. Michelle Fine:
We are concerned educators and scholars from around the country, voicing support for our colleague, Distinguished Professor Dr. Michelle Fine of The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
When, along with other Montclair, New Jersey, parents, students, teachers (organized as Montclair Cares About Schools - MCAS), union activists and civil rights activists, Michelle raised critical questions about the validity of a new k-12 testing regime, she became a target of attacks by corporate education reformers who supported the new testing regimen.*
The attacks that Michelle is now enduring lend new meaning to the notion of “high stakes.” A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed anonymously for more than 1,000 of Michelle’s emails from her City University of New York email address. Recently, a slanderous video was made from material in these personal emails. This video is as profoundly disturbing as it is absurd, and we are shocked by these inaccurate, personal, and baseless attacks.
Michelle is internationally recognized for her passionate scholarship on educational and racial justice. From spearheading school restructuring in Philadelphia in the 1980s to being an expert witness in education discrimination cases to doing ground-breaking research into the "opportunity gap" in public schools to helping to develop the nationally regarded New York Performance Standards Consortium, Michelle has spent her career working with teachers, students, and parents to build schools that celebrate teaching and learning, and that foster inquiry, creativity, inclusion, and equity for all students, especially those who have been most marginalized.
It is appalling that her efforts in support of public education in Montclair have been decontextualized and twisted in such a malicious and cowardly fashion. The underhanded tactics to intimidate and silence Michelle are unacceptable. Such tactics are also resulting in a ripple effect: many social scientists deeply engaged in community work now understand the capacity of privatized interests to malign those at all levels of public education, and the ease with which the public is misinformed in the name of equity and children's best interests. And, now attacks on public intellectuals in higher education are linked to the corporate assault on k-12 education.
Nationally and internationally renowned educators, students, university faculty, and advocates have taken notice, and we are in intent on speaking up. Michelle's work is an exemplar of true education reform: we stand behind Michelle - her work, her convictions, and her values.
*For additional details, see the following:
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/29_03/29-...
http://dianeravitch.net/?s=hissy+fit
P.S. - This petition hosting website may ask you for a donation. You are under no obligation to donate and donations go to the company ipetitions.com
Updates
July 10, 2015
ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE JOINED THE FIGHT FOR MICHELLE!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE AND I AM BLOWN AWAY BY THE STRENGTH OF OUR COMMUNITY!!!
Reached 1,000 supporters
July 8, 2015
Reached 100 supporters
July 6, 2015
473 Comments
Michelle Fine represents the best ideals of an advocacy academic. She believes that children are among the most vulnerable in our society and acts on her beliefs in ways that try to end the very corporate stranglehold on education that is now attacking her.
We need to assure the reach of creators of high-stakes testing do not silence our right to voice our concerns. Anonymous requests for information means that the exchange of information becomes one-sided. The bullying of education professionals must stop.
I have followed this outrageous abuse of freedom of speech. Michelle is well within her rights to comment on issues of educational matters as part of the scope of her professional standing. As you can see, I have no problem using my GC address in such matters.
I have had the distinct honor of working with Michelle at the New York Performance Standards Consortium. Her integrity and passionate advocacy for public education are unparalleled. I only wish there were more Michelles to speak truth to power.
The assault on public school educators has got to end. Such slander against Michelle Fine is simply an attempt to intimidate discredit her and all education experts who speak out on behalf of public schools and the students they serve.
I met Dr. Fine at a conference at UPenn years ago and was impressed the creativity, drive and brilliance in her praxis. Shame on anyone who takes advantage of our transparency laws to attack the personal life of such a wonderful thinker, educator and advocate.
Michelle Fine is a distinguished scholar whose work I have relied on as a reporter on education issues repeatedly. Her expertise, passion and commitment to a more just school system for all, not just for some, is commendable and should be valued, not attacked.
We can't allow any citizen's voice to be silenced on matters of public policy. When a citizen's voice is actually an informed voice, it becomes even more imperative that her or his voice be heard. Dr. Fine has my fullest support. Corporate ownership is NOT the solution to the egregious problems we have in our systems of collective learning. Look at what they've done through their ownership of the media. An educated population is not in their interest.
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Michelle Fine represents the best ideals of an advocacy academic. She believes that children are among the most vulnerable in our society and acts on her beliefs in ways that try to end the very corporate stranglehold on education that is now attacking her.