- Opinion: The Self-Indulgence of Blaming Others...Even in Education - September 26, 2020
- The Anti-Equality Movement - March 27, 2013
- Let the Nurturers Nurture - December 15, 2012
- Data-Driven Politics - November 11, 2012
- Unreason on the Throne of American Thought - October 29, 2012
- Inexcusable Sympathies - October 22, 2012
- The Educational Reformer's Orthodoxy - October 18, 2012
- The Bliss of Contextual Ignorance - October 15, 2012
There was a time when standing up for public school teachers in the United States was not merely acceptable behavior, it was actually the cultural norm. We gave our teachers accolades in the public arena, hoping that our efforts at demonstrating our united esteem might somehow make up for the low pay we afforded them. Those days are long gone now. Speaking up on behalf of teachers almost automatically provokes a response from an assortment of folks who would prefer that we keep the focus of our national education conversation on failing schools and rubber room teachers. They have their reasons, those in the chorus screaming "Demonize them!" There are education entrepreneurs who are engaged in deadly-serious business competition against public schools. They want--need is a better word--public schools to sit in ill repute so that the school chains in which they hold a financial stake may expand. There are the voucher folks who need the public school teachers to be bad enough to justify bundles of public monies (preferably with no strings attached) being thrown over the ivied walls of private schools. Some home school advocates cheer any bad press concerning public schools. I'm not sure why, but it may have to do with public schools being constitutionally disallowed from favoring the home team's God. There are the union-busters who really don't like teachers' unions and want them to go away. The "bad teachers can't be fired" line is a vital armament in their ideological arsenal. There are those who resent the fact that the worst-performing schools in America are reserved for minority populations who have been historically denied equal opportunity in every aspect of American life. They blame teachers perhaps because the politicians disavow responsibility. Or maybe just because they have seen more than their share of bad teachers. Over and again, the harried American teacher is collateral damage in a wider ideological war. I've known lots of teachers. Some were bad, some were okay, some were solid. And some were absolutely lights-out American-hero-on-a-daily-basis phenomenal. We don't do enough to protect the good ones in the popular onslaught. We don't usher them to safety before we carpet bomb our public schools with unhinged vitriol. Someone gave the green light to beat the candy out of bad teachers like so many pinatas, and now a bunch of idiots in blindfolds are swinging away at our education system's fine china too, for good measure. The great thing about preaching the "bad teachers" gospel is that you can base an entire public speaking career on a handful of bad teacher anecdotes. Even if the percentage of bad teachers is lower than the percentage of doctors who hack off the wrong limbs in surgery, there will still be lots of bad teachers about whom tenacious slanderers may tell stories--ideally stories in which they magnify every gory detail.
I believe the leader of Students First has been unable to deal with the fact that she could never master the art of teaching and her personal vendetta against all those that can has been masqueraded as a reform movement. She was and is a failure and therefore a whole nation of teachers must pay. Really Michelle, take a Xanas, go to therapy, smoke a joint..but leave us professional teachers alone. Your bubble will burst eventually...too bad you couldn't have been more insightful and taken responsiblity for your own personal shortcomings. Such a pity.
You know, I didn't go to a state school. I went to one of the best schools in the country for my undergrad and I resent being mocked in this article. I grew up in rural New Mexico, went to a terrible school system and managed to claw my way out. I got into teaching to pay back all of my good fortune. I spent two years in Inner City Louisville and am now out in a 12.000 person town doing three different content areas. I am middle class just like you and advise you to think twice before you attack your peers with "fancier" degrees.
I'm proud as hell to do what I do everyday and I'm grateful for the tools my education gave me to do my job well. I don't need to have it ridiculed as bourgeois. Last time I checked, the goal of education is to give our kids the tools they need to excel in this world. It's not about class-warfare so check your inferiority complex at the door.
The author wasn't criticizing everyone who ever went to an elite institution. He's writing about people like Michelle Rhee and Wendy Kopp. Their issue isn't where they studied; it's how they treat teachers. Maybe you think the way they treat teachers is okay?
I think this article got off to a great start, but then it took a turn for the worse with the obvious bias. Now, you did bring attention to major issues, such as the shortcomings of Teach for America (the organization, not all the individuals who do it) and the dangers of voucher schools. However, your message is drowning in a sea of bitterness. KY teacher got it right when (s)he called you out on class warfare.
And, FTR, I am barely middle class, grew up in a working poor family, and also studied at a state college. I earned my teaching license the traditional way. Throughout my career, I have seen people from the entire spectrum of the socioeconomic classes viciously attack the public school system with teachers being the first targets. (In fact, I've heard more criticisms from the lower end, but that's another story for another time.) I don't think the root of this problem is with the rich; the wealthy ones who do sneer at "commoner" teachers are just one of several in our entire population. I think the biggest thorn in our side is how we are portrayed through the media and documentaries. It's like they only focus on the bad teachers and they purposely show you a small snippet, leaving out the entire picture. Being compared with nations across the globe in an apples-to-oranges setup doesn't help, either.
That's just my two cents.