Margin of Error

Woodson Maher is not your typical public school teacher. He was once arrested for being nothing more than an annoyance (for good reason) to his teachers union; administered high-stakes standardized testing for confused students; and been told he's the "margin of error" in a teacher-certification process as flawed as it is odd. When he approached elected state officials seeking help in his quest for full licensure, Maher found them as elusive as they were evasive.

In Margin of Error, Maher blows the roof off public schools and schooling in Tennessee and across America. He candidly explains how corporate-minded "educrats" have dictated newfangled, futile education strategies that emphasize testing and testing prep at the expense of traditionally well-rounded curriculums, to include vocational education programs approaching obsolescence.

Among Maher's many compelling points:
• How powerful and at-times incompetent testing companies such as ETS, Measurement Inc., and Pearson dominate a standardized-testing industry raking in billions.

• How the elimination of vocational-ed programs-such as entrepreneurship-are hurting schools. local economies, and career-prep opportunities for non-college-bound students

• How teachers unions have dropped the ball in effectively advocating for their members

• How teacher-certification programs are rubber stamping candidates of questionable skills and backgrounds while many of the best veteran teachers stream toward the exits.

• How Tennessee political and education appointees failed to properly vet a testing company's preparedness to administer tests before signing a $108 million contract.