Posted on 04/13/2015 11:13:49 AM PDT by walford
Sydney Smoot might look like your average 4th grade girl, but she has taken such a bold stand against Common Core that she received a standing ovation from adults at least three times her age.
The spunky student from Brooksville Elementary in Florida could barely reach the podium when she stood before the Hernando County School Board this month, but her presence could not have been clearer.
Immediately addressing school officials, little Sydney never muddled her words as she described the dangerous impact that state standardized testing is having on students.
Sydney asked one question that addressed the obvious flaw with exhaustively testing students at the end of a school year.
“Why am I being forced to take a test that hasn’t even been tested on students here in Florida, so how can it be valid and accurate on what I know?”
However, Sydney didn’t merely complain of the problem without providing a feasible solution. Instead, she suggested that the painstaking test be divided up into three smaller tests to determine how students are fairing throughout the year.
“Why should we have so much stress about one test when we should be learning and having fun at school?” she asked.
Perhaps the most startling moment in Sydney’s speech was her revealing of a secret contract that students must sign, preventing them from speaking with their parents about the test.
“I do not feel good about a form in the FSA that you have to sign ensuring that you can’t even discuss the test with your parents. I am not comfortable signing something like this. I have the right to talk to my parents about any and everything related to school and my education.”
Sydney told Upworthy that she owes her courage to her mother, but that it was all her idea to address the school about the issue.
“What inspired me to speak all started one day when I came home. My mom asked me how the testing went, and I told her I was told not to speak about the test to anyone. I had not felt comfortable signing something in the test. I had concerns about this test because there was a lot of stress put on students and myself. I was a little nervous before the speech, but when I was called up to the podium, I did not feel nervous because I knew this speech was going to help a lot of people.”
Sydney is living proof that even though the government has failed our public education system, they cannot smother the desire to learn, as long as we continue to teach our children that they must stand up for what’s right, especially when it means standing against what’s wrong.
A secret contract? Just damn! How Soviet of them. The gulags can’t be very far away now. I miss America.
Actually, the girl wasn’t speaking against Common Core, she was speaking against TESTING. I’m not convinced I’m on her side because I’m not really sure what she’s driving at. She might be speaking out against measurable, objective testing standards, not Common Core per se.
I have had the great pleasure to meet several children of that age and vocabulary skill. However, most of them were home schooled.
I wanted to sarcastically make a similar comment.
But the tragedy is that there’s more truth than sarcasm to the parent’s having painted a target on their backs...
Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if her comments (the child) end up netting her an automatic ‘fail’ on the test and compromise her collegiate opportunities due to what she signed in the absence of her parents.
More parental rights erosion in 3...2...1...
My 4th grader just took these same tests in Florida and there was nothing he had to sign. Had there been, most of the parents (and we know them well) would have been marching on the admin with pitchforks and torches. Maybe this is specific to the district, school or teacher.
Apparently there was one man who was not impressed. The guy shown seated in the lower left didn’t rise to the occasion. My guess would be he is a member of the PTA which has spent years trying to screw up the educational systems of the US.
Exactly. I am not against testing and standardized tests. The teacher's union is vehemently against them. Their arguments about "teaching to the test", etc. ring hollow with me. Don't like "teaching to the test" - then don't! If you are teaching what you should be and getting through to the kids, then they should ace the test.
The teacher's union just do not want their members to be measured. They do not want anyone to question whether or not they are actually educating the kids, that there are some teachers better than others. You should not question them, they are smarter than you. Trust them.
This is what the collective already believes about your children...they are property of the state.
Even MSNBC says so...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3qtpdSQox0
And yet...we continue to tolerate this crap...
You saw him too. Some kind of bureaucrat... Has to be. Probably her dad taking the pic in the Black/gray shirt...
Good point. The age of majority may vary by state, but contracts signed by minors are not legally enforceable. The Nazi higher-ups know that, so forcing children to sign this is an attempt to trick children. Classy.
No problem for progs -- they're just always right and never wrong.
Same as for any 14-year-old.
Yeah, that one was a dead giveaway to me, as well.
So, the answer to “how do you know you’re right?” is “I just am”?
“In what other situation is it legal for an individual under the age of 18 required to sign ANYTHING binding????”
Abortion??? Otherwise, who signs the medical consents???
but “failure or a success through a numbered rubric” doesn’t sound like a child’s vocabulary......And? Maybe she was given a rubrics cube. Is she wrong?
Cute kid, and smart.
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