Testing, Testing... The Merrow Report
by Tom Kertes

Both as a doting father of three and a onetime public school teacher, John Merrow is keenly aware of the enormous impact education has on our children's lives. Fortunately, as one of the leading telejournalists specializing in educational issues in the United States, he is in a position to exert his own immense influence as well.

"There are so many wonderful things about public education that most people know little or nothing about," he says. "But there are also things we should do differently or better. And I think we would, if we'd just remember to always keep the best interests of the children on our minds."

The new trendy over reliance on testing is the ideal case in point. "After we did the research for our show, 'Testing... Testing... Testing' we were absolutely appalled," Dr. Merrow says. "Sure, some testing is essential to examine the students' Ievel of knowledge in the subject. But we found out that 70-80 per cent of the testing in the Boston jurisdiction we examined was done purely to enable the bureaucracy to show outsiders what they were doing. It had no other, purpose whatsoever. And imagine, all that money... how much better it could have been allocated elsewhere to help the kids."

A 1973 graduate of Harvard with a doctorate in Education and Social Policy, Dr. Merrow first taught high school, then college English, and then became an educator at the Federal Correctional Facility in Petersburg, VA from 1968-70. Soon, however, the journalistic bug bit and he began to do radio documentaries on educational issues for NPR, earning more than two dozen awards for excellence in reporting.

After switching to television with documentaries for PBS, Dr. Merrow served as the educational correspondent on the "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" from 1985-9O; then forming "The Merrow Report" in 1993. "It is riveting reporting," CNN anchor Judy Woodruff said about the show. "Everyone should watch," added former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean. "John Merrow's work is too important to miss."

But just try to tell that to CHADD (Children and Adults with ADD), or the drug companies. They would have loved to miss "ADD: A Dubious Diagnosis?," a show Dr. Merrow did on the unholy alliance between the organization and the pharmaceutical companies. "CHADD representatives would appear on 'public interest' videos, pretending to be real-life parents of kids with the condition," he says. "And in return, there was a lot of money exchanged. I believe this was one of the main reasons behind the terrible over drugging of young kids we are doing in this country."

"I think it's one of the important shows I've done;" he adds. "It had to be, because the drug companies did everything they possibly could to silence me. I even received threatening phone calls at home."

Dr. Merrow's other important shows include "Caught in the Crossfire," a sensitive examination of the impact of violence on young kids in a Brooklyn housing project, "Growing Up in the City'' which follows the unique experiences of 14 New York City middle schoolers, "First-Year Teacher," dealing with the sometimes barely surmountable problems of rookie teaching, and "The Tale of Three Cities," examining issues confronting a trio of educational CEOs in three large urban environments in today's America.

Dr. Merrow, whose company is currently also working on "Listen Up!" a project that trains youth producers all over the country to create their own public service announcements about to put the finishing touches on his new show, "School Sleuth," for PBS. He appears in a raincoat and fedora, strictly film noir style, with the requisite damsel in distress in the opening frames. Except the damsel is distressed about the impossibility of finding an excellent school. "We want to teach the public 25 new ways to look at excellence in schools," he says. Sounds like an excellent idea to us.