Barbara Madeloni, an outspoken opponent of the Common Core and high-stakes
testing, won election this weekend as president of the Massachusetts Teachers
Association. Madeloni’s victory is the latest signal that local and state
affiliates are growing restive with the national unions’ efforts to find common
ground with education reformers — and want a more militant tack. Last month, an
insurgent ticket won control of the 600,000-member New York State United
Teachers, after painting the incumbent union leaders as too accommodating of
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s education reform platform. Last week, the Chicago Teachers
Union passed a resolution slamming the Common Core. Over the weekend, the
Seattle Education Association’s incumbent president narrowly beat back an
unexpectedly strong challenge from a teacher who had led a much-publicized
boycott of the standardized MAP tests last year.
— As she takes the helm of the 110,000-member MTA, Madeloni vows to call for
a three-year moratorium on high-stakes testing, including a ban on using test
results to evaluate schools and teachers. She promises a vigorous campaign to
expose “corporate forces” behind the education reform movement and to seek ties
with other unions “to develop a national strategy to resist the undoing of
public education.”
— Madeloni’s position statement on Common Core calls it a “money grab for
testing and curriculum development companies” that will narrow the curriculum
and limit teachers’ academic freedom. She also opposes the concept of common
national standards, writing that “our democracy must be about diversity and not
standardization.”
Gregory G. Nadeau
Public Consulting Group
781-370-1017
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