The Columbus Free Press

Letter to the Editor

New Candidate for Ohio Governor

by Robert R. Smith, Feb 13, 1998

My name is Robert R. Smith. On Wednesday, Feb. 18, at approximately 10:30 am I will be submitting my signatures and fee to become a Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio. Below is an advance copy of the kick-off speech. The campaign is in earnest. Contact me at this email address for further information, or call 330-477-8125.

YVT, R. Smith

Good Afternoon. God bless the great state of Ohio and the United States of America.

My name is Bob Smith and I'm running for governor of the state of Ohio. I have been a teacher for twenty years; I am a Vietnam Era Navy veteran; I am married and have four boys; I have a couple of degrees; I live in my community and pay my taxes; and I don't want to be governor -- I HAVE to be.

To kick off this campaign I have three things that I want to talk about today: my single-issue platform, how I intend to finance this campaign, and why I expect to win.

My single-issue platform is simply this: we must eliminate the Ohio Proficiency Tests as they exist because they rob school districts of money and resources, they rob teachers of the time necessary to prepare students for the 21st century, they rob students of drive and self worth, and they rob our First Teachers, the parents, of local control over the things their children are learning in school. They do what legislators have been doing since 1931: they steal from children.

Here are six points to support that accusation.

Outline of reasons to eliminate the Ohio Proficiency Tests:

I. TIME

Between testing and the time taken away from traditional curriculum to TEACH TO THE TEST, roughly two years of learning time is lost. Fourth grade, sixth grade, ninth grade, twelfth grade, and all the time spent preparing is testing too much, learning too little. Even if a teacher does not teach to the test, 15 weeks is lost to testing alone, not counting the optional district achievement testing. Too much "What is..." not enough "What if..."
Tomatoes do not grow better if you measure them every day; they grow better if you feed them nutrients and protect them.

II. Money and resources

Printing costs for each test are $8 million; throw in another $38 million in unfunded costs to local districts for facilities, proctors and administration; include another $4 million or more in evaluators and the bureaucracy needed to perpetuate the test; then dump in another $200 million in preparatory activities and materials (again, out of the pockets of the local boards).
Multiply these figures by FIVE (fourth, sixth, ninth (2) and twelfth grade), and you'll begin to see one of the solutions to inequitable funding in Ohio schools. Wouldn't this money be better spent on learning than on testing?

III. Inconclusive and redundant

A recent Associated Press article gave credence to something that most teachers knew a long time before the proficiencies became entrenched: the only thing the proficiency tests measure accurately is SES (socioeconomic status). Generally, students from the suburbs pass easily; students from the inner city fail miserably. So all that current testing does is make already-nurtured kids feel even better, and make ill-prepared kids feel even worse, as well as crushing many of the kids in the middle.
The proficiency tests were spearheaded by politicians (six governors) as a measure of accountability. Students are accountable every 4 1/2 weeks: interim reports, mid-term grades and semester grades. Good teachers produce good students, and the new state licensure and evaluation systems are the first step to identifying bad teachers and vindicating good ones.
In the early seventies the country was up in arms because "Johnny Can't Read." Johnny was the exception, not the rule. The American system of education reaches more kids than ever; remember that the drop-out rate in the 50's was 50%. But even if "Johnny" was the norm, how efficient was the New York State Regency test (the equivalent of Ohio's Proficiencies) in allowing him to receive a diploma?

IV. Counterproductive

Ohio has ALWAYS prepared students well for life, regardless of what colleges and business PURPORTEDLY say. I know; I've watched students become better and better for 20 years. By robbing teachers and students of time and resources, the tests are counterproductive. With the Class of 2000, the first class to have been robbed of the maximum amount of time, I notice a subtle difference in writing ability. They are great kids, bright, inquisitive, enthusiastic, but their basic skills are infinitesimally inferior to previous writers. The amount of TIME expended on testing could be, and probably is, the reason for this.
Another counterproductive element of the proficiency tests is complacency. Because of the emphasis placed on the test, some high school students who have passed them believe that they have nothing left to learn, and therefore become complacent. While not a majority of the population, this segment seems satisfied with a "D" or "C," and are more difficult to motivate above "proficiency."
Finally, the tests aim at a minimum competency, the 75% average. For the complacent student, as well as the rest of the student population if the curriculum is geared at minimum competency, aiming at minimum competency actually lowers expectations and IS counterproductive. Intellectual risk taking, independence of thought, problem solving, creative/synthetic thinking have been characteristic of all who have made real contributions to science, art, literature, etc., and we are encouraging kids to aim for the direct opposite. We are creating a generation of kids whose first approach to problem-solving in the workplace will be to ask what people want to hear. Students who aim at the middle and hit will know less than students who aim for the stars and miss.
A student told me, tearfully, "Half of my eight-grade year was wasted, spent on studying material for a test that I would have passed anyway."

V. Trauma

On an individual and district-wide level, the proficiency tests create trauma and crushing losses of self esteem. Fourth graders, sixth graders, eighth graders all vibrate nervously and are stressed out during test week. High school seniors do not, because most don't care about the test. Horror stories abound about the students who miss passing by one point, five times, and are crushed; about marginal ability students who don't qualify for exemption but drop out in their sophomores years because they just can't pass; about students who are forced, on the writing test, to aim at mediocrity.
Entire school districts also suffer. District report cards which appear in local newspapers do great things for districts that do well, but horrible things to poor districts. It's not a wake-up call; it's a death knell. Struggling districts become the scapegoats of irate taxpayers and politicians. The proficiency tests only assist in widening the gap between the have and the have nots. The rankings of district passing percentages can be done without a test at all, just by driving through neighborhoods: Jackson, North Canton, Worthington, Hamilton, Hudson.
If you want a generation of neurotic test takers instead of healthy problem solvers, keep testing. Piaget is spinning in his grave!

VI. Local control

The proficiency tests rob local boards of education and local communities of the ability to decide content. The state has always set minimum graduation requirements. North Central has always accredited graduating institutions. Local boards and parents have been able to decide how to meet those standards. Now, with so much emphasis on proficiency test results, there is no local control of content. As one middle school principal put it, "We can't make a move without considering what effect it has on the test. It's a nightmare."
State-mandated curriculum, and now the proposed national tests, smacks of nationalism and the totalitarianism of Big Brother. The freedom to determine, locally, the standards of pornography within the community, which is guaranteed by the U.S. Supreme Court, should surely be extended to communities and local boards of education, not the faceless force in Columbus.

I don't know why I should be surprised that politicians lied to us, but they did. When the tests were first introduced, teachers across the state were told three enormous lies to allay their fears. Lies Money will never be connected with test results.

On the most superficial level, grants are now being written whose benchmarks are proficiency test results. Teachers will never be forced to teach to the tests.

Right. Ask the kids. Ask the teachers. Ask the publishers of practice tests and test primers. Districts will not be penalized for poor test results.

Canton City, Alliance, Cleveland, Youngstown. How do you feel about the Report Card?

I believe that kids should graduate with proficiency in reading, writing, math, citizenship and science as determined by their parents through the local boards of education and administration. I believe that the proficiency tests are doing much, much, much more harm than good. The test robs teachers of time, students of self esteem and motivation, and parents of control. I believe that the test has gone well beyond the point of salvation and needs to be abolished. Stopping this senseless waste shouldn't be difficult. If the 21st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States could abolish the 18th, surely we can admit our mistake and eliminate proficiency testing. I believe it is time for former students, parents, grandparents, teachers, administrators, and Ohioans in general to realize the mediocrity that this test fosters and take a stand to eliminate it.

The tests are becoming further entrenched. If we are going to do something about them, we must do it now. A new generation of teachers is coming, as well as a new generation of students. In as little as two years time, they will look at people like you and me as if we had third eyes in the middles of our foreheads. "Why, we've always had the test."

With our platform out of the way, we turn to money. Being teachers, how can we possibly expect to raise the money for this campaign. We don't. We are running a "zero-dollar" campaign. What we have invested so far is about $50 in photo-copying and the $150 applications fee. That's all we intend to spend. The fact is, in the latter part of the 20th century, we don't need to spend the millions of dollar others have spent. We have a single-issue platform. Twenty-seven percent of Ohio's population has children in school who are being hurt. Those children also have grandparents and aunts and uncles. Between media exposure (and it is the purpose of the 4th Estate to keep the people informed) and the Internet, getting the word to those people will be elementary. I do have some advice for my Democratic primary opponents, the one who anticipates spending millions of his own money and the one who anticipates spending millions of other people's: couldn't THAT money be better spent somewhere else? Habitat for the Humanities? Soup kitchens? Finding a cure for cancer? We have turned down, and will continue to turn down, contributions for our campaign. We have told people to put their wallets away, to save it for your kids, or your church, or dinner out Tuesday night. This is a movement of people. And while I apologize to the printers in Ohio, two of whom are my very close friends, we will not be printing signs or billboards or buttons. Sorry. The paper is needed in the classroom, and besides, printers are always pretty busy without that business. Hey Lee; hey Bruce; get your priorities in order. It's time for a new paradigm in politics. Likewise we will not be holding $200-a-plate dinners, or strategy meetings, or rallies. We're teachers. We have enough to do with our time, and so should those people who live for those congregations. Instead of politicking, wouldn't that time be better spent playing with your children and grandchildren, volunteering at a nursing home or community center, or taking a course at your local or community college? Save your time and money; tell as many people as you can that some guy you heard or read about deserves the vote.

Why? How am I qualified to be governor? How am I not? I have exactly the amount of experience that all three of my opponents, including heir-apparent King Bob Taft: ZERO. I have more public service than almost all of them. I've spent my life organizing groups of people for specific tasks, developing plans of action, prioritizing, decision-making, delegating authority, and helping people reach their potential. That sounds like a pretty good job description for a governor.

Second, I don't want to change much. My father, who only graduated from seventh grade, and yet was the wisest, wealthiest man I have ever known, taught me that, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The state of Ohio is not broken. It's running pretty smoothly on the backs, not of politicians, but of career civil servants. While I am working to eliminate proficiencies, the individual departments will be headed by qualified men and women, chosen hopefully by a coalition of Democrats AND Republicans: men and women wise enough to know where the real work is being done, watch dogging without interfering. When I am done with that task, which should take no more than two months (considering the mandate of the people to a single-issue candidate), there are other important changes that need looked at: equitable health care for all Ohioans, equitable school funding (which the governor and legislature have dragged their feet on), taking care of the rising drug problem, attracting more manufacturing to Ohio, safeguarding our agricultural productivity. If we can accomplish something new and good every two months, without upsetting the tranquil applecart of Ohio prosperity, that'll be 24 things in four years. That'll be enough.

Perhaps my best qualification is the fact that I have no political ambition. I am happy teaching, driving kids to higher levels of ability, reveling in their discoveries and doing my best to ensure that they become happy, productive members of the community. It is only the subtle, sinister evil of a population moving toward mediocrity that has driven me out of my safe classroom. Whether I remain in it after May, or after November, or return to it in four years, that is my greatest ambition. I do not want to be governor of Ohio; I HAVE to be.

In this peaceful time, when education seems to be the catch word, shouldn't you elect a teacher instead of a lawyer or a developer or a career politician? The only thing at stake here is the productivity, happiness and prosperity of the future.

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