Stepping outside my comfort zone

This is not my usual blog.  Sure, I'm still going to attempt to be witty and clever enough to catch the attention of a Publisher, Pinner, or potential employer. But I may get a little bit - political.  Kind of like girls in high school that got a little bit - pregnant.

Without knowing it, I have taken a political stand. Yesterday I opted my children out of all PARCC testing in our school district not realizing that to do so would be committing to a political party.  That I would be taking a side.

Am I taking a side? YES - My children's side! I'm the Mom - that's my job.  To look out for their best interest. I am their advocate, their voice, their representative in adult decisions.

I did not make the decision to opt them out of testing lightly.  This wasn't something I did on a whim. "Hey look cereal is on sale and opt of testing. I'll get two!"  The biggest factors in saying NO to the Common Core Testing this year is that our state is not even going to count it. It will not count against students, teachers, or school districts. The other factor is that my third grader will have taken 3 different sets of Standardized tests, twice-Fall and Spring, by the end of the year. It's part of the Third Grade Guarantee.

This is where it somehow gets political.  Because believing in Common Core is supporting Obama and so I am a Democrat.  Or a Communist depending on who you talk to. Not supporting Common Core makes me a Republican. Wanting to repeal Common Core makes me a Tea Partyist.

Listen people, I am just a mom. Trust me. A very average very ordinary Midwest stay-at-home mom.  I do want reform. I do want overhaul. I like the idea of National standards of education because as one brilliant blogger said - is the math different in Maine than in Texas?  I want to see big changes in how schools are funded.  I want to see changes in how teachers are tenured and paid. 

I want every child to have the opportunity to learn whether they are lucky enough to go to a suburban school, on a warm bus, with a full tummy and their homework finished on a computer. Or whether they got there an hour late because no one is home to wake them up, hungry, in yesterday's clothes, without their paper homework and lunch money.

Do I have to be a Democrat or a Republican to be a Mom? Do I have to pick a side? Then I pick their side - the kids. Because that is my job - advocate, voice, representative in adult decisions.
I chose the kids.