Many thanks to those who have supported us in this effort. Below is our statement on deciding not to appeal:
NO APPEAL FOR DISCOVERING MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOK RULING
We scored a stunning victory against the Seattle School Board on February 4, 2010, when Judge Julie Spector ruled the Board's math text decision “arbitrary and capricious." We will not appeal the March 28th,2011 reversal of that ruling by a three judge panel.
Judge Spector's original ruling, carefully and courageously taken, put a spotlight on the poor quality of decision making in the Seattle School District, and its impact on our students' math success. Since the adoption of the Discovering texts, Seattle 10th graders' math scores have continued to decline, especially among minorities, making it clear that her appraisal, and our lawsuit, were based on real evidence. The message in Judge Spector's ruling is that the school board based its decision on pressure from administration, rather than evidence.
The tragedy of this particular wrong decision is that the Discovering texts are confusing and do not enhance solid, useful skill development in algebra and geometry. Psychologists now acknowledge that “secondary,” conceptual knowledge, such as math skills, cannot be learned efficiently by the trial and error practices utilized in these texts. This kind of knowledge and skill is generally acquired through a combination of examples, guided practice, independent practice, and mental effort. Our students are being failed by a curriculum that leaves them discouraged and unable to do simple computations, much less master algebra and succeed in college level mathematics-based courses.
We were extremely heartened by Judge Spector's extraordinary courage and integrity: She challenged the School Board and the district establishment by determining that the evidence did not support the adoption of the Discovering math texts. We were further inspired by the outpouring of support from individuals all across the country and the personal stories we heard from families adversely affected by Seattle’s poor textbook choices. We hope that the increased public awareness aroused by our lawsuit will hasten the correction of this terribly mistaken adoption, as others across the district join us in advocating for significant improvement in math curriculum.
Our resources do not permit us to pursue this lawsuit against the deep pockets of the district. At this time, the urgent task at hand is to elect knowledgeable individuals, willing to intelligently apply relevant data to improving the system, to replace four school board members who have repeatedly failed to make decisions derived from evidence: Sherry Carr, Harium Martin-Morris, Peter Maier, and Steve Sundquist.
Martha McLaren, DaZanne Porter, Cliff Mass
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Appeals court overturns Spector decision
It's extremely disappointing to write that the appeals court has overturned Judge Spector's decision. For a little while, her decision had opened the curtain and acknowledged the reality-- constructivist math is a sham, unsupported by statistically valid data, unsupported by the vast majority of highly technically proficient community members, scientists, educators, and mathematicians. Students continue to flounder and be hamstrung by lack of substantive math education, and by the confusion that ensues from constructivist teaching practices.
Here is a link to the decision.
http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/index.cfm?fa=opinions.showOpinion&filename=650360MAJ
I don't have time to write a detailed review of the decision at the moment; my quick perusal gives me the impression that it is an uncritical repeat of the School District's recent brief, with little evidence that the judges closely examined the case we presented.
More later,
Marty
Here is a link to the decision.
http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/index.cfm?fa=opinions.showOpinion&filename=650360MAJ
I don't have time to write a detailed review of the decision at the moment; my quick perusal gives me the impression that it is an uncritical repeat of the School District's recent brief, with little evidence that the judges closely examined the case we presented.
More later,
Marty
Friday, March 11, 2011
Appeals Hearing, Tuesday, March 8
Tuesday, from 11:10 to 11:50 AM, we finally had our hearing in the King County Court of Appeals on the School District's appeal of Judge Spector's February, 2010 decision against the Seattle School Board.
The first interesting thing that happened was that both counsels and the court agreed that this Appellate court hearing was a redo of the Superior Court hearing rather than simply a review of Judge Spector's decision. I don't quite remember why this turns out to be the case; I had not understood this previously. In any event, it means the panel may look at Judge Spector's decision, but without deference, and will be looking at the merits of the case just as she did.
Keith Scully, our attorney, did an excellent job of framing our case and emphasizing the fact of the OSPI's "mathematically unsound" rating of Discovering, He made many other good points as well regarding information that's been covered in past blogs or our briefs.
When Judge Becker asked a question about the supposed support for the curriculum by the teachers, I wished Keith had been clearer in setting the record straight. There was not unanimous support by teachers – at least 4 teachers went so far as to testify against it to the Board. In addition, the President of the HS Principals had testified to the Board that the principals were all in support, and Ted Nutting, a highly respected Ballard HS teacher, had actually written a letter to the Board challenging that assertion.
Keith says he's not worried about these kinds of details. He emailed me, “The goal is to emphasize the high points, convince the court we know what we're talking about, and not say anything stupid. I think we did as well as we could .....In terms of results, though, nothing to do but wait and see. " He definitely didn't make any mistakes, IMO.
Decision? It could come in a month or a year or more.....
A handful of people sympathetic to our side showed up for the hearing – that was very very nice!
In the left column, above, is a link to a terrific feature report done by Q13 (Channel 13 news).
Other details: Presiding Tuesday, March 8, at the King County Court of Appeals, were Judges Becker, Schindler, and Applewick. We had requested more than the usual 10 minutes, and so both sides were alloted 20 minutes to present information to the judges. Keith Scully continued to represent DaZanne Porter, Cliff Mass, and me (I was the only one present), and Jeffrey Freimund represented Seattle Public Schools.
Sorry to have been so slow in posting this account: I worked on both Wednesday and Thursday (I'm part-time in the Student Assessment office at South Seattle Community College) so this was my first opportunity.
If you've questions about this blog, I'm happy to answer them.
Marty
The first interesting thing that happened was that both counsels and the court agreed that this Appellate court hearing was a redo of the Superior Court hearing rather than simply a review of Judge Spector's decision. I don't quite remember why this turns out to be the case; I had not understood this previously. In any event, it means the panel may look at Judge Spector's decision, but without deference, and will be looking at the merits of the case just as she did.
Keith Scully, our attorney, did an excellent job of framing our case and emphasizing the fact of the OSPI's "mathematically unsound" rating of Discovering, He made many other good points as well regarding information that's been covered in past blogs or our briefs.
When Judge Becker asked a question about the supposed support for the curriculum by the teachers, I wished Keith had been clearer in setting the record straight. There was not unanimous support by teachers – at least 4 teachers went so far as to testify against it to the Board. In addition, the President of the HS Principals had testified to the Board that the principals were all in support, and Ted Nutting, a highly respected Ballard HS teacher, had actually written a letter to the Board challenging that assertion.
Keith says he's not worried about these kinds of details. He emailed me, “The goal is to emphasize the high points, convince the court we know what we're talking about, and not say anything stupid. I think we did as well as we could .....In terms of results, though, nothing to do but wait and see. " He definitely didn't make any mistakes, IMO.
Decision? It could come in a month or a year or more.....
A handful of people sympathetic to our side showed up for the hearing – that was very very nice!
In the left column, above, is a link to a terrific feature report done by Q13 (Channel 13 news).
Other details: Presiding Tuesday, March 8, at the King County Court of Appeals, were Judges Becker, Schindler, and Applewick. We had requested more than the usual 10 minutes, and so both sides were alloted 20 minutes to present information to the judges. Keith Scully continued to represent DaZanne Porter, Cliff Mass, and me (I was the only one present), and Jeffrey Freimund represented Seattle Public Schools.
Sorry to have been so slow in posting this account: I worked on both Wednesday and Thursday (I'm part-time in the Student Assessment office at South Seattle Community College) so this was my first opportunity.
If you've questions about this blog, I'm happy to answer them.
Marty
Monday, January 24, 2011
Finally, a Court Date! Also, a Response Brief.
A court hearing has been set for Tuesday, March 8, 9:30 AM in the District's appeal of our lawsuit victory. The hearing will occur just over a year after Seattle Schools filed its appeal of Judge Spector's decision. On February 4th, 2010, Judge Julie Spector ruled the adoption of the Discovering series of high school math texts “arbitrary and capricious,” citing a lack of evidence of the texts' efficacy. She ordered the Seattle School Board to reconsider its decision. The Seattle School District filed its appeal on March 3, 2010.
Our attorney, Keith Scully, filed a new brief on January 14 responding to the “Friend of the Court” statement in support of Seattle Schools by the Washington State School Directors' Association. In it, Keith states: “The Superior Court was not empowered to and did not attempt to select a math series for Seattle. It was not empowered to express an opinion on math pedagogy …, and did not do so. There are no impacts of this decision on any other district’s selection of math books, and the Seattle School District is free to develop a record supporting the Discovering Series on remand.” You can find a link to the 10 page statement on the left, under “Links to Legal Documents.”
The hearing is scheduled at the Court of Appeals, Division I, One Union Square, 600 University Street, Seattle, at 9:30 AM on March 8th. The case is listed 6th on the docket; oral arguments in appeals cases are limited to 10 minutes for each side. Presiding over the hearing will be Judges Schindler, Applewick, and Becker.
It's a tremendous relief, and very exciting, that we'll finally have our second day in court. Fingers crossed here!!
Our attorney, Keith Scully, filed a new brief on January 14 responding to the “Friend of the Court” statement in support of Seattle Schools by the Washington State School Directors' Association. In it, Keith states: “The Superior Court was not empowered to and did not attempt to select a math series for Seattle. It was not empowered to express an opinion on math pedagogy …, and did not do so. There are no impacts of this decision on any other district’s selection of math books, and the Seattle School District is free to develop a record supporting the Discovering Series on remand.” You can find a link to the 10 page statement on the left, under “Links to Legal Documents.”
The hearing is scheduled at the Court of Appeals, Division I, One Union Square, 600 University Street, Seattle, at 9:30 AM on March 8th. The case is listed 6th on the docket; oral arguments in appeals cases are limited to 10 minutes for each side. Presiding over the hearing will be Judges Schindler, Applewick, and Becker.
It's a tremendous relief, and very exciting, that we'll finally have our second day in court. Fingers crossed here!!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
BETRAYED is now in print
FYI, Laurie Rogers' book, BETRAYED: HOW THE EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT HAS BETRAYED AMERICA AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT is now available. I encourage you to go to the Amazon link below and read the first pages. The quality of Laurie's writing and her analyses of both the situation and the response needed make riveting reading for people who care about education.
Marty
http://www.amazon.com/Betrayed-Education-Establishment-America-about/dp/1610480449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293776231&sr=8-1
Marty
http://www.amazon.com/Betrayed-Education-Establishment-America-about/dp/1610480449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293776231&sr=8-1
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