For Immediate Release
Portland School
Board Member and Standardized Testing Critic to Speak in Eugene
Portland School
Board member and outspoken standardized testing critic, Steve Buel, will speak
in Eugene at North Eugene High School on Wednesday, September 24 from
6:30-8:00 p.m.
A veteran 40-year
public school teacher, Buel was elected to the Portland School Board in
2013. He recently drafted a Board
resolution to advocate for the suspension of new state Common Core standards
for three years.
A founder of Oregon
Save Our Schools, http://oregonsaveourschools.blogspot.com/ Buel has advocated tirelessly for an analysis
of the origins of current standardized testing as well as the financial and curricular
costs of high-stakes testing, including the new federal and state Common Core
mandates.
Biography info: http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/board/845.htm
“There’s a lot of destructiveness in the Common Core,
and I wanted to try to minimize that as much as I possibly can within the
school district,” said Buel.
Buel is also an advocate for parents and students considering
the option of opting out of standardized tests.
Some quotes from Buel’s Facebook blog:
“We
restrict teachers from teaching then hold them responsible for the outcomes.”
“We
blame our response to federal and state mandates on the federal and state mandates instead of on our response to
them.”
“We
have an (school district) administrative culture which rewards loyalty as
opposed to initiative and true
leadership.”
Buel’s Eugene presentation will focus on:
1) The origins and ramifications of the Common Core
State Standards.
2) The story behind the Portland School Board resolution
on Common Core testing.
3) The legalities of opting out of standardized tests.
Buel’s Eugene
appearance is sponsored by the Community Alliance for Public Education (CAPE),
a community-based coalition of teachers, parents and community members
committed to the schools our students deserve.
For more
information, contact: Larry Lewin larry@larrylewin.com
