"What is Expected?: Listen & Live"
Margaret Hinton
Sunday, March 9th 2008

Listen and live. The Gospel this morning is essentially about healthcare and taking away one stone. But, today, I would like to take away three stones so that we may live.

We must take away the stone of ignorance. Who lies behind this stone of ignorance?
We must take away the stone of arrogance. What lies behind this stone of arrogance?
We must take away the stone of exclusion. Who lies behind this stone of exclusion?
First, let’s look at the stone of ignorance. Ironically, the biggest stone of ignorance in my world is No Child Left Behind (NCLB). I will only talk about my elementary school, Marion W. Savage Elementary in Savage, MN and Burnsville/Eagan/Savage School District 191.

Why is No Child Left Behind (NCLB) a stone? First, NCLB demands yearly increased measurable results that in my view are unattainable. Each year the bar gets higher for measurable results:

Here’s a short story about reaching 100% of our children. Last year I was teaching the vocabulary word TEXTURE to our students. We worked on many examples of texture in clothing. For example, a T-shirt would be an example of thin texture. A hooded sweatshirt would be an example of thick texture. Then we looked at many, many different examples of art and I asked, “Which of these paintings is thin texture? Which is an example of thick texture?” Finally, we listened to music. A simple melody would be considered thin texture. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony would be considered an example of thick texture. Then I asked, “Students, do you understand how texture can be thin or thick? Do you have any questions?” A student raised his hand and asked, “Ms. Hinton, why do you wear your pants so high?” After hearing this story, do you think 100% of students are going to meet AYP in 2014?

Every administrator I have spoken to about NCLB tells me that there will not be a public school standing in 2014 that meets AYP in all the required cells: the American Indian cell, Black cell, Hispanic cell, Asian American cell, White cell, Free and Reduced Lunch cell, Special Ed. cell, and ELL cell. (ELL means English Language Learner…a student whose first language is not English…a student who is learning English.)

A second reason NCLB is a stone is this. It is punitive. Here is an example. Last year our English Language learners (ELL) were to take a test using the computer. We were told our platform for our computers would work for these tests. At the outset, our English Language Learners (ELL) were having a dickens of a time logging in. Our teachers scrambled, calling for district technology support. We didn’t know if we were foot or horseback. Finally, our district was given a directive to discontinue our tests. Because our ELL children were at the mercy of the ill-fated technology, our cell of ELL students had an NA on the state form which means not attempt. Our district wasted time and money appealing this charge. To date, the state has not accepted our appeal. A school that does not meet AYP for 2 years in a row in the same cell may be subject to punitive measures. This means that if our ELL children at Marion W. Savage do not meet AYP this year, our school may lose federal monies desperately needed to teach our at-risk children. * (Please see note at the end for specific details for further clarification.)

But the most insidious reason to remove the stone of NCLB is this. NCLB is classist and racist. The four most challenging barriers to success for our children are these: poverty, minority status, lack of English proficiency and frequent moves from school to school or district to district. Here’s a tiny glimpse into our poverty at Marion W. Savage. Each school has an opportunity to provide free and reduced lunch to those families in need. Free and reduced lunch is determined by size of family and household income. 15 years ago at Marion W. Savage 3 to 5% of our students qualified for free and reduced lunch. Today, 26% of our children qualify for free and reduced lunch.

I am not proud of what I am going to tell you now, but in today’s pressure cooker, these are the thoughts that come into a teacher’s mind. “Dang, here comes another student who lives in poverty and has lived in three different school areas in the last four years. We may not make AYP in the free and reduced lunch cell this year. ”

This NCLB stone is choking the life out of public education. In my 32 years of teaching, it is the most destructive educational mandate I have experienced. NCLB is a no-win proposition because

  1. each year the test requirement for success goes up
  2. while at the same time the student at-risk population goes up
  3. while at the same time class sizes are increased
  4. while at the same time, teachers are “cut” .
Who is the modern day person behind this stone of ignorance? Behind this stone is the bright, Arab child named Lazarus who is excited about learning. Remove this stone and Lazarus will no longer be reduced to a number and bound by the wrappings of test scores.

Second, let’s look at the stone of arrogance. Irish people have a real problem with arrogance. My great uncle had a very large family. Every evening the children would place their knife in one hand and make a fist and the fork in the other hand and make a fist. The whole family would then pray the prayer before meals. Then my great uncle would ask, “What would you rather be if you weren’t Irish?” All the children would reply as they pounded onto the table with their right fist and their left fist holding their knife and fork, “Dead.”

As I said, the Irish can be an arrogant lot, indeed.

In the book Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn, the major voice is an American Indian named Dan. Dan gives us an understanding of our arrogance. He tells us, “But if we get too good at what we do, you will find a way to stop us. You always do. You are always pushing.” He continues, “You push to be richer. You push to own more things….” He continues, “I used to think you did it because you are greedy. I don’t think that anymore. Now I think it is just part of who you are and what you do.” When I read this, I had to stop. I was forced to ask, “How do I push? How do I dominate? How do I impose?” All throughout this book, Dan is saying in so many words, “The White Man thinks he is important, more important than anyone else.” This hubris, this arrogance. Arrogance is an attitude of “I am important and more important than you.” It is an attitude of “I will hurt you because I can.”

It is this arrogant attitude, this attitude of PUSH that gave poll numbers 5 years ago a report that 70% of Americans were in favor of unilaterally bombing a sovereign country, a country whose leaders had nothing to do with 911. It wasn’t just our Current Occupant who led us into war; it was along with the complicity of 70% of the occupants of this country.

When it comes to war, we are mentally imbalanced. We have to start understanding war as slaughter as Coleman McCarthy aptly states, “Start saying World Slaughter I, World Slaughter II, the Vietnam Slaughter, the Iraq Slaughter, the Israeli-Palestinian Slaughter”.

There is a lot of talk about hope these days. But remember, there is no hope without courage. Time has to come when those of us who are against war are thinking and working as hard, as creatively, as vigorously against war as those who make war. Are we studying about the philosophy of nonviolence and making it part of the marrow of our bones? Are we up to dreaming of Christian churches across this land conspiring courageously and compassionately for nonviolence and justice?

What is behind the stone of arrogance? Humility is behind this stone of arrogance. Humility means

And now to the final stone….the stone of exclusion. In 2003 a columnist from our local Burnsville page wrote, “Left to fester, tolerance and diversity, will destroy America’s traditional Christian church.” Whoa!

This is the letter I wrote to the editor:

‘Dear Editor, On 8/9/03 I was knocked off my white, middle-class, Christian, straight feet. Your columnist wrote, ‘Left to fester, tolerance and diversity will destroy America’s traditional Christian church.’

For some of the following reasons I am still in a daze:

I am surrounded by diversity. For me, differences do not translate into deficits. Moreover, I believe I am a better Christian because of the diversity in my life. Surprisingly, we may all find that left to foster--as opposed to fester--tolerance and diversity will enhance America’s traditional Christian church.
Sincerely,
Margaret Hinton’
Who is behind the stone of exclusion? The parishioners of St. Stephen’s and St. Joan of Arc, the Martha’s and the Mary’s are behind this stone telling anyone who will listen that behind the stone of exclusion is inclusion, accessibility, barrier-free living, and justice for all.

In closing throughout the Gospels, Jesus calls those he meets into the fullness of being. This stone of NCLB isn’t about fullness of being. It is punitive and unjust. This stone must be removed so that our children may reap the benefits of educational health. This stone of arrogance that keeps us stuck in violence is not about the fullness of being. We must lift this stone of arrogance for the benefit of our nation’s mental health. This stone of festering exclusion is not about the fullness of being. We must remove this stone of exclusion so that we may breathe the fresh air of diverse health. It’s time to remove these three suffocating stones so that we may come alive and become the people we are intended to be, noble and of royal blood, worthy and born from the intimate depths of the divine.

* Clarification for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for District 191 (Burnsville/Eagan/Savage)

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is complicated. There is no easy explanation. Our District 191 (Burnsville/Savage/Eagan) did not make AYP for 2 years in a row. Because of this, 10% of our total Title I allocation must be put into Professional Development. This means that our Title I buildings receive 10% less of the monies previously allocated. In other words, money is not LOST, but it does go to a different place in our District other than the Title I classroom.
The cells in SOME of the Elementary Title I schools that did not make Proficiency are Special Education cell, Black cell, and Hispanic cell. Now, next year, if we have even one Title I building that does not make AYP (annual yearly progress) for the same subject area for 2 years in a row we must also set aside (besides the 10% for Professional Development) 20% of our budget for transportation for School Choice where any child from the school that did not make AYP can choose to go to any school in our District that did make AYP. If parents do not choose to send their child to another school, the money will go back into the Title I school budgets. So to clarify, the money is not LOST to our district, but we must spend it in the way the NCLB consequences are defined. To clarify even further, the district may not lose the money, but the individual school may.

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