Stop the use of teacher data reports and the abuse of standardized testing!

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Justice Not Just Tests Petition:

Stop the use of teacher data reports and the abuse of standardized testing!
We the undersigned UFT members:
Are opposed to the existence of the teacher data reports which rate teachers based on their student’s progress on standardized tests. These reports:
- Promote competition among teachers, discourage the use of creative or relevant pedagogy, force teachers to ignore diverse learning styles and promote test prep.

Are opposed to the use of merit pay which promotes testing, diverts much needed funds from schools ($20 million this year, with only a fraction of schools participating) and scapegoats teachers for government’s failure to address the socio/economic inequities faced by students and their communities.

Are opposed to any use of standardized tests for students in K-2 classrooms:
-- Standardized tests have a long and notorious history of misrepresenting the intellectual capabilities of young children based on race, class and immigrant status.

Oppose the use of standardized tests to close schools, which mostly occurs in schools with high percentages of low-income students and students of color:
- This is used to bully principals and teachers into narrowing the curriculum to test prep only; there is no evidence that closing schools improves education, but it does demoralize staff and communities; it is used to force the re-organization of schools which pushes more experienced, higher paid teachers out of the system.

We call on our union to:
- retract their support for the teacher data reports and merit pay programs
- to oppose all initiatives that promote a focus on standardized tests
- to oppose categorically the use of standardized tests in a high stakes manner
- support alternative assessments like portfolios and other performance based assessments

We are one hundred thousand working educators strong in the UFT. Join a grassroots movement within our union to promote the best interests of our school communities.
Sponsored by Justice-Not-Just-Tests (A NYCORE Working Group: www.nycore.org)

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Pleas send completed petitions to: or Email jnjt@nycore.org to arrange pick-up
JNJT or
425 11 street FAX 718-408-9472
brooklyn, ny, 11215