Response to UU Blog Article on Mandatory Testing

Cee Jay, a Unitarian Universalist blogger, wrote on Saturday about mandatory testing of high school students in Ohio. She makes an important point about how testing is used “to shift the blame for our failing schools to educators and students and away from government policies that under fund education.” However, I strongly disagreed with her assertion that students who are failing standardized tests don’t need the skills being tested (such as “figuring probability, writing five paragraph essays, or balancing chemical formulas.") All students deserve to learn the fundamentals of reading, writing, math and science. These skills are essential for understanding the world.

Many students fail these tests because they have very limited educational opportunities. As Cee Jay notes in her piece, the testing favors students who have had social privileges. The vast majority of students in this country can succeed academically, if only they receive a stronger foundation early in life. Cee Jay mentions the “social conditions that negatively impact our students’ ability to take advantage of educational opportunities.” These social conditions include inadequate early education, lack of comprehensive health insurance for children, and under-paid jobs that keep many families in poverty.

You can read Cee Jay’s post here and join the discussion in the comments section.

UU Statewide Networks Promote Health Insurance

The Unitarian Universalist statewide advocacy organizations are working hard to expand access to health insurance. A few quick updates:

The Legislative Ministry of Maryland supports raising Maryland’s tobacco tax, in order to increase health care coverage on the state level.

The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, California, is lobbying for universal single-payer coverage on the statewide level, as part of the OneCareNow campaign.

The Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network took action in December to support reauthorization and increased funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

(SCHIP is a federal program that provides health insurance for children through funds given to states. Promise the Children also supports reauthorization and increased funding for SCHIP).

If you know of other Unitarian Universalist organizations or congregations working on this issue, please post a comment or e-mail me (shelby [at] promisethechildrenuu.org)

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta Supports Interfaith Children’s Organization

Here’s another model of how Unitarian Universalists can engage in children’s advocacy, from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA):

The UUCA has helped children by supporting the Interfaith Children’s Movement of Metropolitan Atlanta (ICMma). ICMma works on many of the same issues that we do at Promise the Children, including early education and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. ICMma offers several opportunities for congregations to get involved, including “street retreats,” an interfaith children’s service, and a prayer breakfast. Joy Borra is active at the UUCA and serves on the board of ICMma. She explained that the UUCA contributed to the founding of the ICMma, and that the congregation is taking a collection this Sunday on behalf of ICMma!