Welcome to the Limb

An Open Letter of Support for Two Brave Teachers As the President of TCTA, I spend a lot of time out on the proverbial limb. It’s my job; I believe it’s my calling to speak truth to power and to advocate for public schools and the teaching profession as a whole; and for my members in particular. Sometimes it gets lonely out on that limb. I don’t have an administrator or an ILD micromanaging me into helplessness and threatening my job on a daily basis. That is the daily reality for many of my members so they don’t have the freedom to speak up and speak out. Then along come practices that just aren’t good for kids and teachers do what they do best – they advocate for their students. They sound the alarm and say, “This just isn’t right” and they make a stand, in spite of the threats to their own jobs. My members, Nikki Coates-Jones and Karen Hendren, are speaking out on a national level against toxic testing and “accountability” measures which take away precious instructional time from our classrooms. They are passionate about teaching and are deeply committed to their own students and to all students whose experiences in school have become dry and joyless due to constant test preparation and data mining. These ladies are widely recognized as highly effective teachers and these highly-effective teachers have had enough. They are refusing to administer the MAP test and student surveys to their first-graders. They are part of the United Opt-Out movement and they are courageously speaking on behalf of students and teachers who have suffered in silence for too long. I give them my full support and encouragement and I will be with them as they take this path. Welcome to the limb, my friends. It’s good to have company. Patti Ferguson-Palmer President, Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association Member, NEA Board of Directors