A national grassroots movement of parents, students, teachers and advocates against high-stakes testing and standards is growing, propelled by widespread grievances about inequity, unfairness, and public disempowerment. As the resistance swells, so does the call for sensible policies that support teachers and schools and provide all students with access to key resources and opportunities.

Mark your calendars for an exciting, free webinar on Wed. May 22nd at 7:00 p.m. (ET) hosted by the Center for Teaching Quality, OTL Campaign, National Education Association, and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education.

It’s time we recognize that students fall behind not because of inherent character flaws, but because our education policies for the past two decades have focused on implementing tough standards while failing to build support systems that address the societal factors that create barriers to academic success.

Standards-based reform creates an inherent system of winners and losers by raising the bar and assessing who makes the cut. Supports-based reforms provide and strategically align the needed resources so each student has the opportunity to reach that bar—and surpass it.

Our schools operate today with a system that was cutting edge when the Model T first rolled off the assembly line. While countries like Finland and South Korea blow by us on the education race track, our policymakers have refused to invest in the resources our schools need to provide students with 21st century skills.

New York City is caught in a college prep crisis: Budget cuts and pressure to perform well on high-stakes tests is limiting the ability K-12 public schools to prepare students for college. This puts a financial strain on new college students who must spend precious tuition dollars on remedial classes re-learning what they should have been taught for free in high school.