It's very telling, Chris, that liberals like the president as well as conservatives both seem to be backing programs such as vouchers and charters. It says a lot about the perceived state of education when the level of dissatisfaction crosses such a wide political area.
Chris - I agree with everything you say and both admire and support your passion for public education.
I am working within my own school to get teachers to see this reality, also and for us to begin to work collectively to take action. However, I have not been able to make a compelling enough case to them. As we enter into contract negotiations, there is still a sense of us against them in many cases and efforts by union reps to 'fight' to get everything they can in their contracts. I believe this adds fuel to the fire with the general public who, overall, see all of public educators much the same way as the do government employees/legislators - a bunch of 'fat cats' with ridiculous pensions and lots of benefits that the public has to fund.
So, my question is, how do we (a) get the teachers and teacher unions to work together and (b) launch as powerful a campaign as those who are trying to dissolve public ed to get the public to understand the situation?
I am absolutely in - but there is much to do within education to reform it (as Will's efforts leading out of EduCon are attempting to address) - and it will take equally as much work for this as well.
So - how to organize this effort? Using the on-line community is a wonderful vehicle and I am ready to be part of getting this moving!
I think we are in agreement that organizing in the 21st century will not be as much about due process and prep time, but about the very existence of true public schools in this country. Currently, KIPP and Mastery tell compelling stories because they do so in a vacuum. We, and I mean public school educators, are not a voice in the mass media rallying against the unfair portrayal of our efforts. We cannot settle for the occasional article from Kristen Graham or Dafney Tales explaining what we do well. In the most dysfunctional of our schools, there is someone doing something great with children. If the narrative is to change, from public schooling as a deficit model, to public schooling as an institution of change and improvement, we must be telling our own compelling stories. This can only be done when teachers, parents, and students decide that a new story must be told. A "Best Practices" for a new narrative needs to be developed, shared, and implemented if we are to transform from acted on upon to those in control of own destiny.
"There will always be a need for schools for the kids who can't take advantage of the new market-driven system, but in many places -- especially in our cities -- they will become the schools of last resort."
We're already at this point. And have been for years. Every year, thousands of kids leave the public schools unequipped for anything (workforce training or further education).
There is already a market-driven system, and the public schools in many places are the "schools of last resort."
We let the Trojan horse in with NCLB. It was designed to erode public confidence in our public education system. It has worked to that end wonderfully. It has also tricked our institutions in to the trap of chasing AYP by spending more time teaching to a broad but very shallow set of standards. We schedule the real learning for when the test has been taken. It is no wonder that people have lost confidence in public Ed. We must demonstrate our passion to the public. We must allow our students to pursue their passion and in turn make our school shine. Schools need to embrace the new world of learning that is available via changes in communication and adjust pedagogy to accommodate it. School leaders must energize their school communities to be involved in their school so that ownership of the local school builds confidence and pride in the jobs that are being done well. We as educators must fight the negativism at every chance and take the fight to those whose agenda is political or profit based. Count me in Chris. Public Ed made me what I am and for that debt I owe it my best shot in this campaign!
Chris, first I work at a catholic School. Second, I am with you all the way. Public education has been weakened by NCLB and RTTT. The federal government, over two administrations has charted a doomed course by showing their complete lack of understanding of what schools should be. It is frightening. Public education is essential to our democracy and public schools and their dedicated teachers are not the enemy of learning.
Sure we all need to transform our schools into better ones. That should always be the case. But basing public education's success on a cheap set of data and thinking that reform means returning to tradition is insanity.
Those of us in private education should be able to exist and succeed for the sake of our students, but not at the expense of public education.
When Duncan talks about real change, when he gets a clue of what learning is, then I'll listen. In the meantime, let's fight the fight. He should attend EduCon.
Public dissatisfaction is one explanation for the bipartisan stupidity tearing public education apart at the seams. This dissatisfaction was created by the mechanism supercharged by NCLB, namely creating a phony crisis in which citizens of all persuasions would lost confidence in their local school and therefore withdraw support for it.
People have always disliked "schooling," but liked their kids' school. What has happened over the past few years is that kids complain about the boring standardized high-stakes test-prep factories their schools have become while the scores of those misused invalid weak measures are used to demonize those very same schools to an alarmed public.
My hypothesis, based on studies of similar trends in other nations with center-left and center-right governments is that this is ultimately all about labor policies.
There are powerful forces in our nation working to destroy the middle class. Part of that plan involves union-busting and reducing high-skilled well-paying positions to casual employment with fewer benefits and lower wages.
The familiar refrain repeated ad nauseum by Obama and others, "We must pay teachers more, but hold them accountable," is disingenuous at-best. The current "accountability" systems will rationalize and marginalize teachers until their pay drops like a rock.
I can't help but wonder if teachers would be whacked like pinatas if a strong UAW, Steel Workers Union or Teamsters were around to defend them?
PS: Race-to-the-top is a despicable metaphor for educating children. In a race, there is one winner, but lots of losers.
Chris, I always wish I could speak/write as eloquently as you do. I get so angry about the things mentioned that I cannot put it into words that are appropriate for "everyone."
I am also not sure I should/want to admit that I agree with Gary Stager sometimes but some of his comments ring true. "One winner" and "kids are complaining." I can see kids dissatisfaction in "school" but I still see the love in their eyes for their teachers. I remember more good than bad as I am sure most people do but don't admit often enough. That admiration from students for teachers is what I miss about the classroom. Seems like a lot of people have forgotten all their favorite teachers and lots of attention is being placed on one or two bad ones.
I recently overheard a conversation in a grocery line in a neighboring town, "You are not going to believe what my child's teacher said/did/assigned?" You just don't hear all the positive stories as much. (I can assure you I chimed in by the way.)
We will keep fighting the good/right fight!
I'm quite young (27) and got into education through TFA, which is an organization I can't defend. So, there's that.
I am confused by the "lying to children" remark. I've been in dozens of classrooms where this actually is happening, albeit not deliberately. If, for example, a teacher is doing a lesson on the difference between fact and opinion (in the most literal sense) for her 14-year-old eighth graders, I think she's deceiving her kids about what they're capable of, what's important to know, and all of that.
I don't actually think this particular teacher is teaching in a way that she wouldn't want her own children to be taught. Fairly confident of that, actually.
So I guess this isn't a comment on the larger problem posed above (vouchers, charters, etc), which I'm familiar with and appreciate; it's a comment on how no, I can't defend teaching that looks like "unscramble the animal worksheet: 'EBRAZ'" in a 6th grade social studies classroom. I think it is a form of lying.
So is that happening everywhere? I mean, I really don't know. I'd assume not. But where does that come from? I'm deeply concerned that those kids will leave that class with their As and believe - as we've led them to - that it's all good.
I voted for President Obama but his public education policies are dreadful. Race to the Top is nothing but No Child Left Behind 2.0. It's the same garbage but worse because now there is money to back it up and push it forward. Arne Duncan's anti-teacher rhetoric is not at all surprising. It's been fashionable for years now for politicians and the media to blame teachers for everthing that is wrong with education. The obsessions with test scores and "accountability" will continue under the Obama administration and the children will suffer.