Opening scene: bunch of students file into a classroom, just like a uniform military-like

march, each kid wearing same stuff, sit down in front of tests, zoom in on one student in
particular and put camera over his shoulder, whiteboard says 5th Grade Math Testing*
Student: *picks up and begins to read test, camera shot of the first question: What is the
square root of sixteen? Student confidently writes 4, smiles, moves on*
*Slow pan through different math questions: What is 5 times 60? Solve for x: 3x=9? What is
6^5? Students answers all confidently, flips the page*

*Next question:
what kind of notation is this?*
*Student pauses, blinks, skips down to next question leaving the above unanswered*
*Next question: What is the calcium content of one 8oz glass of milk? question sponsored
by: got milk logo*
*Student rubs face in disbelief, looks around briefly, circles the question and moves on*
*Next question: How satisfied are you with your teachers ability to prepare you for this test?
*
*Student looks at teacher, writes down Mrs. Smith teaches math well but I dont think she
ever taught about milk*
*Last question: On a scale of one through ten, what do you feel about the number four?*
*Student: writes large question mark, gets up and turns the test in*
*fade to black*
Currently, elementary school students are taking tests with questions that are way above
their reading and skill levels, or dont match their classroom content. Questions are not
modeled to the developmental state of children.
If we work together to bring attention to the unattainable standards of new state testing, we
can stop the insanity. Join the Campaign at www.website.com

Ravitch, D. (2014, May 9). Literacy Expert to Obama on PARCC Test: Too Hard, Too
Confusing, or Absurd?. [Document]. Retrieved from
http://dianeravitch.net/2014/05/09/literacy-expert-to-obama-on-parcc-test-too-hard-tooconfusing-or-absurd/
Boyer, W. (2013, March 25). The problem with PARCC: Children should not be leaving
standardized tests in tears. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved from
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-parcc-letter-20150325story.html
Madda, M. J. (2015, May 4). PARCC, Common Core, and Testing: Sentiments from the Floor of
the Carnegie Summit. EdSurge Newsletters. Retrieved from
https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-03-03-parcc-common-core-and-testing-sentimentsfrom-the-floor-of-the-carnegie-summit

Opening scene: A bunch of legislators sitting around a desk (with a gavel maybe, and some
big curly white wigs?) working on a big piece of paper clearly labeled BUDGET
Legislator One: Let's go ahead and divert most of our funding to stimulus programs. More
jobs mean a better Ohio!
*rips off a big piece of the paper saying budget*
Legislator Two: Great idea! My constituents also want a new waterpark in their community.
Can we get a slice of that budget?
Legislator One: A waterpark?
Legislator Two: Tourism and jobs!
Legislator One: oh okay, great idea!
*Legislator two rips off another large piece*
Legislator Three: If he gets a waterpark, then I want some money to build my constituents a
state-of-the-art community center, including free, warm milk and batmobile rides for the kids.
We need to promote the welfare of children and give them a bright future by inspiring them
at a young age.
*rips off another piece, leaving only a small slice left*
Legislator One: Alright, almost done. Whats last on the agenda for today?
Legislator Two: Uh, funding education.
*everyone groans*
Legislator One: Oh right, that. Why do we even fund that? Dont schools get money from
community taxes or something?
Legislator Two: Yeah, I mean I think they do. Lets just give them the leftover and call it a
day.
*Legislator One bangs gavel*: Awesome. Wait, one more thingwhos buying lunch today?
Legislator Three: Why dont we just pull that out of the education budget? *rips off another
piece from the education budget, leaving a tiny slice of paper*
*sounds of agreement as they all leave the room*

National Education Access Network. (March 2008). Litigation: Ohio. Retrieved from
http://www.schoolfunding.info/states/oh/lit_oh.php3

*Doctor walks into room clearly labeled Oncology Ward, looks at a report where he sees
survival rate of his patients. its 75%*
*His supervisor knocks*
Doctor: Come in!
Supervisor: Hey, I saw the new survival rates of your patients.
Doctor: Yeah, isnt it sad? Weve gotten a wave recently of terminal stage-4 cancer patients.
Ive been doing all I can but without more funding for cure research I cant do much.
Supervisor: Well...how come your peers in general practices have a close to 100% survival
rate? The phlebotomists down the hall barely ever lose any patients!
Doctor: Well...due to the nature of my work and the kind of patients I receive, my patient
survival rate is bound to be different.
Supervisor: But youre losing so many patients!
Doctor: I really am losing my patience now.
Supervisor: Im afraid were going to have to let you go and give you a bad doctor score. We
will be having one of the phlebotomists with a higher patient survival rate take your position.
Doctor: Wait, what? They cant work in oncology. And Im one of the best oncologists in the
world!
Supervisor: That may be, but according to patient survival rates, all oncologists are terrible
doctors. We will be replacing all of you with medical practitioners who have higher patient
survival rates.
Doctor: Wait, you have to take my situation into account!
Supervisor: We do, we have an advanced algorithm that totally accounts for the human
variable. *points to linear equation Survival rate=milk(doctor)+money*
*fade to black*
Doctors dont get judged simply by the survival rate of their patients. So why do teachers
get judged simply by the test scores of their students?
If we work together to bring attention to fact that teacher evaluation standards are unfair, we
can stop the insanity. Join the Campaign at www.website.com

U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Developing Effective Teacher Evaluation Systems: A

Conversation with Charlotte Danielson. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/TeacherEvaluation-Systems
The Plain Dealer Editorial Board. (2013, June 22). Getting better value from Ohios value-added
teacher rating: editorial. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/06/getting_better_value_from_valu.ht
ml

Scene opens on teacher and government official sitting at a table (teacher will have glasses
on and apple next to them, gvmt official will have a suit and a post it on their forehead
labeled government)
ODE: Alright, according to our new laws, all your students need new computers to take our
tests on.
Teacher: Okaybut we dont have any computers right now. How much are we going to get
to buy them?
ODE: What? Get what?
Teacher: You know, money?
ODE: You dont need money. Were already funding you for complying with regulation by
putting pictures of milk up in the cafeteria.
Teacher: But thats not enough to buy hundreds of computersfine, I guess we can
increase taxes in our school district. Lemme take a note of that. *begins writing on paper*
ODE: Wait, dont write that down!
Teacher: Why not?
ODE: Were moving to a digital system. Use a computer, for goodness sake, this is the 21
century.
Teacher: Butwe still dont have computers!
ODE: Youll receive funding for computers if you do well on the new digital tests. *stands up*
Have a good day. *grabs teachers apple and takes a bite, walks out eating it*
Teacher: *calls after official* Buthow do we do well on the test without computers? Hello?
*fade to black*
Schools receive things called unfunded government mandates where they need to comply
with regulations, like the new digital PARCC testing, but dont receive funding to do it.
If we work together to bring attention to fact that Ohios system of funding state schools is
unconstitutional, we can stop the insanity. Join the Campaign and www.website.com
st

Schare, M. (2010, February 16). Unfunded mandates are killing schools. The Columbus
Dispatch. Retrieved from
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2010/02/16/Schare2_ART_02-1610_A8_AHGJQ5J.html
Livingston, D. (2013, January 26). Local taxpayers may pay heavy price for state legislatures
reading mandate. Arkon Beacon Journal. Retrieved from
http://www.ohio.com/news/local/local-taxpayers-may-pay-heavy-price-for-statelegislature-s-reading-mandates-1.368264
Education Matters. (2005, August 4). Unfunded Mandates. Retrieved from
http://educationmatters.us/2005/08/04/unfunded-mandates/
Nichols, R. (2011, March 30). Kasich Signs House Bill 30 School Mandate Relief Act.
Retrieved from http://www.governor.ohio.gov/Portals/0/pdf/news/03302011.pdf
Prerez, J. Jr. (2015, January 16). Chicago Public Schools defies mandate on new standardized
exam, PARCC. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-chicago-schools-testing-met-20150116story.html

Teacher: Joe can I see you for a minute?

Joe: Yeah sure!
*they step out into the hallway*
Teacher: I wanted to talk to you about the score you got on your last test.
Joe: Oh, yeah! Im really proud of that 96%, I studied hard.
Teacher: About that...see, last time you took a test in my class, you got a 98%.
Joe: Yeah?
Teacher: Thats a 2 percentage point decrease in your score. Im afraid Im going to have to
give you an F on your report card for not improving.
Joe: But...why?
Teacher: Thats the schools new grading system. You have to show improvement in your
scores, or else you fail.
Joe: But that makes no sense.
Teacher: Also, we are going to start judging you on the diversity of your friends.
Joe: Huh?
Teacher: Part of your grade will come from how many friends with disabled or minority
friends you have.Its based on percentages, so as you make new friends, you have to make
ones that keep your percentages the same.
Joe: My best friend Andrew has a disability, so I should be fine, right?
Teacher: For now, but if you make friends with someone new, you have to make friends with
another disabled person to keep your percentages the same. I know Andrew is the only
disabled kid in your neighbourhood, but you have to figure it out or else your grade goes
down.
Joe: I thought if my percentages stayed the same I wasnt improving.
Teacher: Yes, that is also true.
Joe: So...is there even any way to get an A in your class now?
Teacher: I dont know, it hasnt actually happened yet. But you do get two extra credit points
for every glass of milk you drink at lunch.
*fade to black*
The governments method of evaluating school performance has nothing to do with how
well they perform.

State Impact (2015). 2013 Ohio School Report Cards. Retrieved from
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/tag/school-report-cards/
Bloom, M. (2013, August 22). No District Earns Straight As on New A-F Ohio School Report
Cards. Retrieved from http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2013/08/22/no-districtearns-straight-as-on-new-a-f-ohio-school-report-cards/
Ohio Department of Education. (n.d.). Accountability Resources. Retrieved from
http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Data/Accountability-Resources