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Opinion | November 2002 Issue
LettersPage 1 2 Rooting for the
Curie 12 Dear Substance, Please update us on their struggle. GO CURIE! Sincerely,
Nevada resistance I would like to take this opportunity to announce that my son, Connor Murphy, has successfully completed his test resistance of the Nevada “Iowa Test of Basic Skills” tests held at his middle school. Connor is a seasoned Test Resistor, completing his third consecutive year in this venue at the age of 12. Although he tried many techniques for resisting (staying out of school, etc.), he has hit upon the very best technique of all: drawing a line down the answer sheet bubbles. This renders the answer sheet useless, and they cannot say that he “took” the test at all. It is a quiet resistance in Nevada, but it means a lot to him, to me, and to those who struggle against inappropriate use of tests across the country. You may offer your support and/or congratulations at: Connor1570@yahoo.com. Mozel Tov, Connor! Sincerely, Sen. Paul Wellstone remembered as teacher
and friend Dear Substance, That passion and commitment to young people were clear from the first time I met Paul: in 1969, my senior year at Carleton, and his first year as a professor. Wellstone made it clear to students (including me) that, as he put it, “Yes, I’m liberal, but that doesn’t make me easy.” Wellstone quickly established a reputation for pushing students to support their views, whether liberal, radical or conservative. Paul was at the center of campus controversies regarding the Vietnam War, campus building take-overs, and acts of destruction. But he helped spare Carleton from violence and destruction. He often asked students — “how will burning a Carleton building (as happened on many campuses) shorten the war in Vietnam by even a day? How will destroying college property improve a poor family’s life?” He encouraged students to consider how we could make a real, not just symbolic difference. Part of Paul’s interest in reducing violence came the early 1970’s, when he and Sheila helped organize the Organization for a Better Rice County. They encountered several battered wives. This became an important issue for both of them. Paul Wellstone didn’t blindly accept what any large organization told him — be it a corporation, union or political party. He ran for U.S. Senate, though DFL leaders felt he didn’t have a chance, and didn’t give him much financial support. Wellstone wasn’t impressed with the strong support some politicians — including some Democrats — gave to high stakes standardized tests. Because he personally did not do well on standardized tests, Wellstone also did not get into graduate school. He strongly believed that public schools could and should be expected to help students learn. But Wellstone was a vigorous opponent of high-stakes standardized testing and one of the few in Congress to oppose the No Child Left Behind legislation because he insisted that no final decisions should made about students, or schools, just on the basis of standardized tests. And he strongly supported charter public schools, despite the fact that they were opposed by teacher union officials who helped elect him. In Congress, and in speaking to a joint session of the Minnesota Legislature, he praised charters as “a marvelous idea that came from Minnesota.” Many politicians visit schools. But as our 16-year-old daughter recalled last week, “When he visited our school, he didn’t just talk. He asked us questions, and listened to what we thought.” Wellstone was the first and most prominent national leader willing to challenge the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) when it began hassling outstanding high school students and educators. The NCAA began rejecting interdisciplinary and community research high school courses, despite research showing their value. The NCAA demanded the right to approve every single high school math, science, English and social studies course. Their arrogance frustrated teachers, parents and students. Paul gave this problem national prominence. He, staff member Josh Syrjamaki and I worked on this for over four years. Finally, the NCAA backed off. The Wellstones encouraged students to work for justice not just in the days ahead, but in decades to come. There’s more hope in this land, and less ice, because of Paul and Sheila Wellstone. The best memorial is to keep on turning up the heat. Sincerely, ‘Measure of the man’
Dear Substance, Sincerely, … Growing up, he was more interested in wrestling than politics, and he had some difficulty in school because of what he later found out was a learning disability. He scored lower than 800, out of a total of 1,600, on his College Boards, and this led him as a senator to oppose measures that emphasized standardized test scores. In an interview, he once said that even as an adult he had difficulty interpreting charts and graphs quickly but that he had learned to overcome his disability by studying harder and taking more time to absorb information. . . . Often, Mr. Wellstone was the only senator voting against a measure, or one of only a few. He was, for instance, one of three senators in 1999 to support compromise missile defense legislation. He was the only one that year to vote against an education bill involving standardized tests, and the only Democrat who opposed his party’s version of lowering the estate tax. Mr. Wellstone was one of the few senators who made the effort to meet and remember the names of elevator operators, waiters, police officers and other workers in the Capitol. James W. Ziglar, a Republican who was sergeant at arms of the Senate from 1998 to 2001 and who is now commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, remembered today “the evening when he came back to the Capitol well past midnight to visit with the cleaning staff and tell them how much he appreciated their efforts.” “ Most of the staff had never seen a senator and certainly had never had one make such a meaningful effort to express his or her appreciation,” Mr. Ziglar said. “That was the measure of the man.” (Continued) Page 1 2 |