Dunce Hat Award Recipient...Marlon Dorsey

And the Dunce Hat Award goes to...

I am on a roll today...

*sigh*

Lately, when bad teachers make the headlines, the typical reasons are

• Having intimate yet inappropriate relationship with students,
• Child pornography,
• Stealing money,
• Cheating on high-stakes tests,
• Questionable Facebook postings, and
• Hitting/fighting with a student.

While this story surely can fit into the last category on the list, what differentiate it from other stories of the past was the teacher's rationale and mixed reactions from others. In case you haven't heard, according to The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi high school basketball coach, Mr. Marlon Dorsey, was caught beating one of his players during practice in Murrah High School gym, in front of other players and other spectators; one of the spectators recorded the incident via cell phone. Now Mr. Dorsey is suspended; The Grio article states suspension with out pay, while the ESPN article states suspension with pay. In addition, parents of three players are suing Mr. Dorsey and the school. This incident has sparked outrage among other parents, while a few supporters of Mr. Dorsey will be content with a formal apology. Nevertheless, what's more interesting about this case is that Mr. Dorsey believed he was doing his players a favor. He released this statement:  

I took it upon myself to save these young men from the destruction of self and what society has accepted and become silent to the issues our students are facing on a daily basis. I am deeply remorseful of my actions to help our students.  

Furthermore, he claimed he beat his players "for a variety of reasons, including disrespecting teachers, stealing cell phones, leaving campus without permission, being late for class and not following the dress code."

As a Black woman who was raised "by the belt", I do understand where Mr. Dorsey is coming from; he was enforcing his brand of "discipline" to keep his players in line. Nevertheless, he broke the law as corporal punishment is illegal in the state. Also, he probably felt, since he is a man and his players looked up to him, he could get away with this. Despite the wrongs they may have done, he publicly humiliated those kids. That's never a good luck for a teacher!

Mr. Dorsey, 

While your intentions were good, you took the law in your own hands by violating children via harsh beatings and public humiliation. You got caught red handed and now it is your turn to experience the painful backlash for your actions. Hence, you made it harder for the rest of us to earn the public trust. Therefore, on behalf of every good, hard-working, and law-abiding teacher and public servant, I present to you the Dunce Hat Award...

HIT THE ROAD, JACK!!!!!!!!!!

Dunce Hat Award Recipient -- Frank Melchiorre

And the Dunce Hat Award goes to...

Courtesy of Gothamist

In light of the current education reform movement, where we teachers are vilified and blamed for everything wrong with public schools, the last thing I need to do is to put a teacher "on blast". However, I will make an exception for this case. According to this Gothamist article, Mr. Frank Melchiorre, a NJ science teacher, was arrested for providing his students marijuana and alcohol at HIS HOME during "tutorial sessions". The students loved him so much, they even made a Facebook fan page to express their appreciation; they thought he was such a "kool" teacher.

First of all, WTF was he thinking?

Second of all, what made him think he WOULD NOT get caught?

Third of all, why are some commentators (in the article) actually condoning this foolishness? When I posted this article on my Facebook page, some of my friends insisted that he wouldn't have never got caught if this has happened when they were in school. I just SMH...

One of the biggest mistakes young teachers make is trying to befriend your students by giving into their whelms. I know...been there, done that! (Yet, not to this extreme). Now his young career is all but finished. While it is possible the students may get into trouble as well, the law will be more lenient to them and less on the teacher. Why? Whether we like it or not, part of our job is to be positive role models for our students.

Mr. Melchiorre,

Due to your lack of common sense and your disregard for the law, as well as your influential role as a teacher and public servant, you just made our fight for professionalism and respect  much harder to overcome. Therefore, on behalf of every good, hard-working, and law-abiding teacher, I would like to present to you the Dunce Hat Award...

HAVE A NICE LIFE, LOSER!!!!!!!!!

Pure Insanity: The Sudden Change in NYC School Chancellor

Courtesy of NY Times/Seth Wenig

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results ~ Albert Einstein

By now, everyone has heard about the sudden resignation of litigator-turn-NYC School Chancellor, Joel Klein, and his surprised replacement, Hearst Publishing executive, Cathie Black. So, basically, another non-educator will take over the helm and continue the havoc that Klein started, with the assistance of his now former voice, Dictator Mayor Micheal Bloomberg. This morning, the NY Times initiated a "Room for Debate" segment on who is qualified for this job. Really! What was the point of this piece? According to Bloomberg, who cares; he is the boss and he can hired whomever he wants, even if that person is obviously not qualified for the job.

In addition to yesterday's protest in London, today's episode of Democracy Now! also discussed the sudden exodus of Klein and his tenure as NYC School Chancellor:



By now, praises, criticisms, and "shock waves" have flooded the internet since this story broke two days ago. Nevertheless, thanks to Failing Schools recent blog entry, below is a YouTube clip showing how NYC constituents really feel about the legacy of tyranny, corruption, and failure that Joel Klein leaves behind:



Let us hope and pray for the children of NYC...*sigh*

UPDATE: After weeks of public outcry and concession for a "no.2 educator position", the state education commissioner granted the waiver for Black to become the next NYC School Chancellor. God help us...

London Bridge Is Falling Down

Courtesy of NY Times/David Kitwood

On yesterday, in one of the biggest demonstrations in decades, over 50,000 British college students and their supporters participated in a protest in London. The protesters opposed the government's push to increase college tuition while cutting funding for higher education expenses. While it initially started out peacefully, some demonstrators behave violently, breaking windows, storming in the Conservative Party's headquarters building, and throwing out objects from the building onto the streets. In all, at least 14 persons were injured while 35 protesters were arrested. Unions leaders and protest organizers are planning for additional demonstrations to come. For more on the story, read the articles from The New York Times and SocialistWorker.org, as well as view today's episode on Democracy Now!



Perhaps the most interesting piece of information mentioned in the video clip is the guest's comments on the significance of protesting:

Courtesy of NY Times/Dominic Lipinksi

Well, one of the things that’s really inspiring about this is how big and how inventive the protest and fightback movement is. And I think this is really helpful for American viewers, where the only fightback that we’re seeing over here from you guys seems to be from this massive exercise in false consciousness, the Tea Party, where people claim to be standing up frontally and they’re in fact installed in office later, stooges for Wall Street and other vested interests. Here, there’s been a much more interesting fightback.

The guest, British columnist Johann Hari, in fact, wrote an article on this same topic the day before the London protest for The Huffington Post. Essentially, he advocated for peaceful demonstrations of the working class and the poor in opposing corporate takeover and influence in government. One of the historical examples Hari used in proving the effectiveness of a peaceful protest is the recent protest of Vodafone. A major mobile phone company in Britain, Vodafone had evaded paying taxes for years; to add insult to injury, the current Conservatives-run government allowed Vodafone to legally continue not to pay taxes. All of this unfold when the same government voted for cessation of housing (and other) subsides to the poor. When the media reported on these, the public became outraged. Initiated by a small group of people who put the word out via Twitter, there was a small protest of a local Vodafone store, which cause the abrupt closing of that store. The news of this protest spread like wildfire throughout Great Britain; consequently, 21 stores around the country were closed due to local protests at the stores' locations.

This story reminded me of the Greensboro's Sit-ins in the 1960's, where four black North Carolina A&T University students went into a local Woolworth's store and sat at the whites-only lunch counter. While those students were harassed and later arrested, once released, they did it again, until the store merchant serve them the same way the white customers were. News of this spread throughout the country, sparking similar acts of protest in other Woolworth's locations as well as in other stores where Jim Crow laws were enforced. The Greensboro Sit-ins spearheaded what is now known as the Civil Right Movement. If it wasn't for those four brave souls, as an Black woman, I wouldn't have the opportunities to enjoy the freedoms and rights I so often take for granted.

Courtesy of SocialistWorker.org/Geoff Dexter

Today is Veterans' Day, where Americans celebrate the lives of current, former, and deceased soldiers who have fought and are still fighting to protect us as well as our rights and freedoms. One of those freedoms include the right to protest. Right now, in England, the Conservative Party controls the national government; as a result, they are enhancing the power of the rich and wealthy at the expense of the poor. The poor are beginning to stand up and fight back. I firmly believe our country will experience the same fate, in light of the recent mid-term elections. The Republicans will do the exact same thing to us here in America. What will happen then? When will enough be enough? There are lessons to be learned here in England as well as in France.

In addition, the current education reform movement is a bipartisan affair. Hence, we teachers are flat out of luck. Who will look out for us in the government and corporate realm? Nobody! So what will do then? As the locals in New Orleans would say, "take it to the streets"! It is just a matter of time...

"You think you know ... but you have no idea." This is my journey

* This morning, as I was typing in my personal journal, I had the intentions of debating my recent decisions...whether I made the right choice? Whether I am ready for this? Can I stick with it? After all that has happened to me since March of this year, I was ready to throw my hands in and say "the hell with it all". However, as evident as it is in my blog, my passion lies in education. I was hoping to do something else within the realm of education; yet, it is teaching I missed the most. I missed the interactions I had with my kids. I missed working with some of my colleagues, particularly those who were like-minded. I missed just being inside of a school house. While I don't missed everything about the job, I missed the essence of what teachers do: share knowledge, meet new people, instill the value of an educated mind, and make a difference one child at a time. I feel like the biblical prophet Jonas. Well, this is my way of acknowledging the fact I need to stop running and face the music. Below is most of my journal entry for today; of course, I amended it to remove any incriminating or "TMI" pieces...LOL. Anyhoo, enjoy...*

11-7-10

Fall back! Meaning set your clock one hour back; Daylight Saving Time begins today. I know working folks appreciated an extra hour of sleep. I guess it is also time for me to fall back myself and be honest with myself.

For the past month and a half, well, since I’ve returned from my last trip in early October, I have been in a slump. While some of the trips I have taken were to seek new opportunities elsewhere and others were for leisure purposes, I realized now that I have been running away from my calling, which was teaching. I guess it really began to hit home when I noticed many of the education bloggers I followed are still in the classroom. Plus, the more I wrote about education, the more I missed being a teacher in the classroom.

Despite the public ridicule we now face in our profession, what we teachers do is not expendable and highly noble. In my heart, I believe we teachers will be ready to fight when the time is right. Many are taking out their frustration via blogging and other forms of writings. While that is great, it is not enough to force our nay-sayers to take us seriously. Nevertheless, once every teacher begins to see the big risk of privatizing public education, they will act. I just hope it won’t be too late.

Then I have my own personal fears and inept. Have I been a competent teacher? Was I always dealt a bad hand with my classroom assignments? When I reminiscence on how I was my first two years of teaching to what I was last year, I can say “not always” to both questions. I know I have experienced growth during my ten years of teaching; otherwise, I wouldn’t have stuck it out as long as I did. Yet, last school year was not a good year; I made some mistakes and wore my frustrations on my sleeves.

I am a type of person who internalizes so much and when I have had enough, I begin to act out. That’s what’s happened to me last school year; I was unproductive because I have had enough. I couldn’t do my job knowing I was being screwed in the ass by my superiors in district office and by our teacher union association leadership; in addition, the teachers at my school site, and statewide in general, were complacent as hell. How much abuse can one take? Plus, I remember our state teachers association sponsored a march earlier this year to protest upcoming budget cuts at the state capitol. It should have been packed full of outraged teachers. It was on a cold, windy Saturday afternoon in February. Plus, during and later that day, I became sick as a dog. Yet I still came out. Considering what was at stake, the turnout was horrible. A few weeks prior, a large group of college students convened at the state capitol to protest against budget cuts in higher education; they had a larger turnout than we did. To me, that says a lot!
         Consequently, I indirectly took my frustrations out on my kids... My heart wasn’t in it anymore. Anyway, after that fiasco [which I refused to talk about publicly], I was on medical leave the following week and have yet since returned to the classroom. While I don’t regret leaving the district and the school, I do regret downplaying my calling by running away from it. Now, I am about to turn 37, Lord willing; I have to do better than this.

Perhaps, I did need the break... Yet I don’t regret leaving my job. Maybe a new setting would be good, even if it is in a familiar place. Right now, I am planning to seek employment in Georgia or in Louisiana. About a week ago, I spoke to my good friend and former colleague who is now a recruiter for one of the school districts in my hometown of New Orleans. She shared with me that the school district is seeking to hire displaced teachers from Katrina. She also stated that we may be awarded a stipend for moving expenses. That’s what up! It would be cool if I can get the money and start over... We will see what happened. Despite this, I feel like I am moving backward than forward. I hate being in Atlanta and home in New Orleans. While Atlanta is more progressive than New Orleans, it and the whole state of Georgia have some ass-backward politics and policies. However, as of right now, these are my two options since I am already certified in both states...

...Then there is graduate school. I so hate it now. My heart is not into it due to the real reason why I went back. During that time, I was bored out of my mind. I didn’t have any social life. After I broke up with my last boyfriend, I doused myself in graduate school. I was hungry for a Master’s degree. I worked hard for it and it paid off, graduating on time with a 4.0 GPA overall, even after having an emergency surgery done. Afterward, I was left with nothing else meaningful to do. So I applied to another graduate program at a different school to make up for the free time at the beginning of last school year. I didn’t see the problems that were forthcoming. From the recurring problems with the new student database system to the corruption unfolding at central office to our local association incumbent leadership won their positions back in a shady election process (I should know because I was on the election committee), I became overwhelmed with all of this, plus meeting my professional duties and becoming accumulated with a new graduate program for a doctorate degree. Now I don’t want it anymore. So I will settle for a specialist degree and say “deuces” to it all. My heart was never really into the program since the beginning.

A few days ago, I realized that I will be finished with my specialist degree before next school year begins. This is great news; when I return back to work, I can be more focus on re-learning and improving on my craft. Actually, I need to work on that like now. I will plan on doing some tutorials for the time being. They always need tutors, especially veteran teachers like me.

Whew! I finally have a plan! I will get back on my feet. You wait and see…

*In closing, I want to thank all of the educators who blog/write about the ups and downs of our beloved profession. All of you have inspired me in one form or another. Keep doing what you're doing. But if you can, do more to make it known to the masses that we teachers deserved to be respected as professionals. Only we can fight for the integrity of our profession. Fight on!*

This too shall pass; yet something has to give...and change. (A reflection)

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

From 9 pm EST last night until a few hours ago, I was not surprised by what happened; yet I was bitter. Yesterday was Election Day 2010 which was projected months before a day of reckoning for the Democratic Party. While the Democrats barely retain control of the US Senate, they lost control of the House in great numbers. In addition, many GOP candidates in state elections won in a convincing fashion. There is so much more I can say, but it is pretty much summed up here. Nevertheless, it is a wake up call for President Obama and other Democrats as they heal from the "shellacking" they got last night from the Republicans.

As a life-long Democrat, I still believe in its principles. I just don't think the Democratic politicians or the general public do anymore. As a party, somewhere along the way, the Democrats lost sight of their principles. Or at least, there is a lack of consensus within the party itself. That was evident when they were in power in Congress. Look at the education policies, for example; there are some Democrats who favors the current education reform tactics for a corporate takeover of public education. While the current economy is the most important issue among voters, education reform issues aren't far behind.

Via Facebook, political analyst and TV commentator Roland Martin shared some interesting insights about the elections outcomes:

I have said this since last year. I said it on November 2009. You have to move your supporters to action outside the election...You have to put your troops in the game. You must tell them who to call. Who to write. Where to mobilize. You MUST engage!

 

...but Pres Obama MUST return to his roots as a community organizer in the next 2 years. That means galvanizing the people in order to rise up and support his agenda. It will be a tough road with the GOP controlling the House.

 

To [Obama's] supporters, you must stop with meet, talk, disperse. It must be meet, mobilize, act. Stop whining about the Tea Party. They did their duty. The folks who mobilized in 2009 and 2010 won last night. Those who complained about those who mobilized lost last night.

 

He is so right. As much as I don't care for the Tea Party, one have to credit them for mobilizing the conservative base and energizing their voters to go to the polls.

 

So, where do we go from here? Well, reflection is always a good thing. But something has to be done. 

The next two years will be a test for both political parties and the President. If Obama wants a second term, he will have to appease his base, which will be harder to do now. While he inherited a "mess" in the beginning, he made more of a "mess" by not fighting hard enough for the concerns of his own base. But this goes back to the lack of consensus within the Democratic party. Traditionally, for example, most teachers and the teachers unions supported Democrats. How can we...and why should we...when some within the party support privatizing public education, a typical move of the GOP? The "lesser of two evils" excuse isn't cutting it anymore. At least with the GOP, we know what type of animal we're dealing with; we can't say the same for the Democrats.

 

Prior to the election, I have called for more activism among teachers. Now I have extended that call to the entire moderate and liberal bases. It has to start from the bottom up. That's how the Tea Party succeeded at best in gaining publicity and winning some political battles during yesterday's elections.

 

On a personal note, for weeks now, I have been internally fighting my passion. While I do have a passion for education, as expressed on this blog, I feel like I am not doing enough to fulfill it. I do miss being in the classroom, but I know in my heart, the timing for me to return is not good right now...at least that's how I feel. Being a doctoral student in grad school doesn't help either. Nevertheless, it just won't go away. What am I to do? My next passionate option is activism. When I was teaching, I was very active and vocal in my local teacher union association. This year alone, I have participated in four protest rallies. I have written several letters and e-mails to elected officials. But I don't feel that's enough. Although Georgia is a right-to-work state, there is a high level of complacency among teachers that is sickening to my stomach. So again, what am I to do? I guess more soul-searching, reflection, and prayer are in order for me. More to follow as I pressed on...

 

Until then, the late great Mahatma Gandhi charged all mankind "to be the change we want to see in the world". In doing so, individually, we must reflect on the change we desire, look within oneself, and make something happen. Then collectively, we come together, build a consensus around a shared vision, and move forward as one unit. Time isn't on our side anymore. While this too shall pass, something have to happen soon. If we want change, we have to demand it.

The Audacity of Mr. Guggenheim

Today, The HuffPost Education posted a response by Waiting for Superman filmmaker, Davis Guggenheim, on the reaction of this film. All I have to say is this: WHATEVER!

In his response, he promoted his film, (duh!) and challenged moviegoers, especially his critics, to not be a "dither", i.e., a person who talks loud and does nothing, but be a doer. I agree...and that's the only thing I agree with.

However, I was completely taken back with these portions of his response:

...The state of our public schools is also a serious threat and we too have a talented corp of ditherers. Just read the editorial pages of many newspapers and blogs and listen to those on the air. There are many experts who would rather make the issue more complicated, tangled and inspire the rest of us to inaction.

What "inaction" do you speak of? To not see YOUR movie? Also, these "experts", who presumably complained about your film, most likely used RESEARCH STUDIES to back their criticisms.

When I hear thoughtful criticism of Waiting For 'Superman' I am energized because I am seeing the movie work -- I realize it's only 90 minutes and it can't answer every question -- but I know that these kinds of questions and conversations are exactly what we need. More of us at the table determined to fix our schools.



How could that be the case when you can't accept criticism? If there weren't intensive criticisms of your film, would you have written this response? The people who NEED and SHOULD be at the table are the teachers. But how will that happen by watching your film when its tone is obviously anti-teachers and anti-unions?

But those conversations must lead to action. Not more voices that defend a broken system just to stick to the status quo.

So it's time to "do" -- go see the movie if you haven't. If you have, go on WaitingForSuperman.com and learn about your local school, find opportunities to get involved on the ground and contact your governor and local school board to demand real reform. 

I am down for the bold portions. Unfortunately for you, Mr. Guggenheim, I would be advocating FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS UNIONS!

Mr. Guggenheim, 

Your response will sit on deaf ears among your critics. Your film is a part of the propaganda being pushed by those who are for a corporate takeover of education. You tried to be subtle in dismissing your critics. But we know better. Fixing our schools is first acknowledging the complexity of the problems, second reaching a consensus among ALL stakeholders, and finally working together as a village to save our public schools. You and the other ed deformers think it is a simple, quick fix; perpetuate the blame game; and prefer only corporations charter schools to provide the education our children need. Yet, you have the AUDACITY to call us, your critics, as "dithers", because we don't (and many won't) support your movie. Man, please! Stop whining and be willing to listen to the other side. Our views were excluded from your film; Randi Weingarten doesn't count. Yet, our views are not expendable because we are the ones who work directly with the children in the schools. But "whatever" to us, right? So "whatever" to you. Don't get mad, get glad...that your film started the conversations that you were seeking in the first place. Yet, don't insult your intelligence in thinking that you wouldn't receive any criticisms from REAL educational experts, teachers, union leaders, and supporters of public education.

"Not All Money is GOOD MONEY"...Kudos to Jones Co. School District

Via my blog reading list, I came across a blog entry on Education Matter discussing the lessons that can be learned from Jones County School District in middle Georgia. Apparently, a few days ago, its school board voted to REJECT its portion of federal funding from RTTT, which Georgia was one of the states who won one of the grant allotments. School Superintendent William Matthews gave a simple rationale for the refusal:

"To look at a teacher and say 'Well because your numbers did this we're going to give you something and because your numbers didn't we're going to deny you', it's just not founded in research," Mathews said. 

...

Mathews says he told board members to reject the funds because they would have had to use about half of the money for teacher merit pay. He says research he found does not show it works, and that the district might have had to raise taxes to continue to fulfill a required pledge to continue the reforms after the grant runs out. 

"It was not just money to relieve our taxpayers of a burden or do some things that we want to do," Mathews said. "It was targeted, and very specific, and very restrictive as to what we could do...not all money is good money."

In the midst of hard economic times, this rural school district sacrificed a whole lot of money (almost $1.5 million) for not following the rules and looking out for their teachers. Instead of caving in, this district stood on its principles and refused to compromise them. This is the type of courage and heart needed for the ed deformers to take us seriously.

Kudos to Jones County School District for taking a stand and doing what's right! We can only hope and pray others districts in Georgia and elsewhere will follow suit...

Wanted: Teachers Activism!

It is amazing how awesome the Internet can be... I stumbled across another jewel!

On many occasions on my blog, despite its anti-teacher, anti-union rhetoric, I advocated for educators to go see the controversial education documentary, Waiting for Superman, in hope that the film will motivate them to become more vocal. Maybe I need to reconsider my stance since there are now a plethora of reports/articles/op-eds praising and especially criticizing the film that are accessible online; just Google for it. In addition, in seeing the movie, who are we really supporting?

The judgment is out there. Now the public is choosing sides. Nevertheless, while many teachers, like myself, have been writing and blogging about the film, our efforts failed to make a huge impact on the public perception. So, I was delighted and well-pleased in stumbling across this video of a group of Bay Area teachers protesting this movie and expressing their personal feelings on how this film has affected our profession:


Although they were small in numbers, to me, it was a first of teachers activism against this movie. This is a precedent for something that is sorely needed to bring about REAL reform in education. We cannot afford to be complacent and entertain derision. We cannot just wait until election time. We cannot always depend on union leadership. We cannot just write only when it likely fall on deaf ears. We need to act now. Go to the school board meetings. Participate in organized, yet peaceful protests. Become members of your professional organizations -- unions. Solicit support from and create alliances with others who support public schools. Stay abreast on the current debate in education reform. Get the word out. Vote.

Also, if you are involved in the teachers unions, hold your union leaders accountable. And if they are not doing their jobs YOU paid for them to do, then remove them from office. Consider what happened in the recent election of officials in the Chicago Teachers Union when a group of rank-and-file members overcame a huge political wall to take over the leadership of the 3rd largest local teacher union in America. These members refused to compromise their principles, as educators and due-paying members, to be a part of the "business-as-usual" get along gang within their union. Quite frankly, it is a shame this had to happen in the first place. But that's what happen when cronyism and other forms of political enticements infiltrate into the union leadership, which cause those in charge to forget who they are SUPPOSED to be representing...it's time to get off my soapbox now.

I know there are stories of teachers being vocal and active in protest that go unnoticed. I have participated in many of these before during my teaching career. Yet, personally, I prefer to "show" than "tell". Right now, it is surely getting to the point for us teachers to "show" the ed deformers and politicians to take us seriously. Last week, SocialistWorker.org posted an article advocating for more activism from the labor workers by highlighting the current French working-class protest against changes in their pension plans imposed by the government. Perhaps, there are lessons to be learned from the "little people" in France.

Whatever the case may be, something DEFINITELY must be done. It has to start with us...but when? When enough is enough? I pray it won't be until AFTER the damage has been done. By then, it will be too late.

PS: If you haven't done so already, I strongly recommend that every educator and supporter of public schools read this best-selling book by renowned education historian/pro-public education advocate, Diane Ravitch. While I am still reading the book, what I've encountered so far is so informative, yet remarkable.

The "Deprofessionalization" of Teaching

While doing online research for an unrelated topic for my blog, I stumbled across an episode of the acclaimed daily news program, Democracy Now!. Entitled "Educators Push Back Against Obama's 'Business Model' for School Reforms", host journalist Juan Gonzalez spoke with Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, and Lois Weiner, professor of education at New Jersey City University, to discuss various issues related to the current education reform movement in America. While there is the embedded HTML code for the episode video clip on the Democracy Now! website, I opted to use the episode video clips posted on You Tube, since they are divided into two segments. Although I will focus on selected parts of the interview, I strongly encourage everyone to view it in its entirety.

In the first segment of the interview...



...this is what grab my attention the most:

JUAN GONZALEZ: But now, what’s wrong? The supporters of Arne Duncan, superintendents like Michelle Rhee in Washington, DC, Joel Klein in New York City, and others around the country, are saying, what’s wrong with having higher accountability standards for teachers? What’s wrong with encouraging experimentation and entrepreneurship, in terms of how you deliver public education to the millions of children who so far have not been served by the public education system? So what’s wrong with that?

KAREN LEWIS: Well, the problem is that the whole idea of the business model doesn’t work in education. In the business model, you can select how you want to do something. You have an opportunity to innovate in a way that discriminates. It’s very easy to do. Whereas in a public school system, where we do not select our children—we take whoever comes to the door—what we need is actually more resources and more support for the people that are there and the work that’s being done...

In the second segment of the interview...



...these are what struck me the most:

JUAN GONZALEZ: You’ve also taken a look at the impact of No Child Left Behind on teachers. Could you talk about that?

LOIS WEINER: Well, I think it’s important to understand that there are—No Child Left Behind is part of this global project to deprofessionalize teaching as an occupation. And the reason that it’s important in this project to deprofessionalize teaching is that the thinking is that the biggest expenditure in education is teacher salaries. And they want to cut costs. They want to diminish the amount of money that’s put into public education. And that means they have to lower teacher costs. And in order to do that, they have to deprofessionalize teaching. They have to make it a revolving door, in which we’re not going to pay teachers very much. They’re not going to stay very long. We’re going to credential them really fast. They’re going to go in. We’re going to burn them up. They’re going to leave in three, four, five years. And that’s the model that they want.

     So who is the biggest impediment to that occurring? Teachers’ unions. And that is what explains this massive propaganda effort to say that teachers’ unions are an impediment to reform. And in fact, they are an impediment to the deprofessionalization of teaching, which I think is a disaster. It’s a disaster for public education.

 ...

LOIS WEINER: Well, that’s part of the—you know, that’s part of the thinking here, that teaching really is not—does not have to be a skilled profession, because we’re not going to teach—we’re not going to educate kids to do anything more than work in Wal-Mart or the equivalent. They only need a seventh or an eighth grade education, at most a ninth grade education, and so we don’t need teachers who are more than, as Grover Whitehurst, a former Undersecretary of Education, said, "good enough." That’s all we need is teachers who are "good enough" to follow scripted curriculum and to teach to these standardized tests. And if you only need teachers who are good enough, you don’t have to pay them very much. And that’s the project...

While Ms. Lewis emphasizes some key criticisms of the education reform rhetoric spewed by the ed deformers, it was the commentary by Professor Weiner that opened my eyes to this game the ed deformers are playing. To the ed deformers, all of this is a systemic ploy to dumb down the future workforce to become more docile and less high-skilled, as well as to deprofessionalize the teaching profession. I think Professor Weiner conveys this better than anyone else I have heard. And I believe she is absolutely correct.

How is teaching becoming more deprofessionalized?

• In my Master's thesis, I examined how NCLB affect the teacher workforce. (Mind you that I completed my degree over a year before the current ed deformers' propaganda got into gear.) According to its HQT criteria, all public school teachers must be certified by the state, as well as attain an undergraduate degree and pass content assessment. However, that is not the case for charter school teachers; in fact, a large percentage of teachers in a charter school are not mandated in many states to be certified. Nevertheless, every public and charter school teacher must meet the HQT criteria. In retrospect, NCLB is more concerned with teachers who are more knowledgeable in their content area than in pedagogical skills.
• Educator Julia Stein shared her experiences as a charter school English teacher and described how the administrators at this particular (and probably other) charter school  as fast-tracking kids, as young as in the 10th grade, in these college-level courses which they are not prepared for.  In addition, she expressed her unfavorable views of teaching English classes with more focus on grammar and less exposure to a variety of literature
• According to the EPIC/EPRU, Miron/Applegate, and Vanderbilt studies, teacher attrition (moving to another school or leaving the profession) is as nearly twice as high in charter schools than in traditional public schools. In an article where I discovered the former study, one of the commentors, D. Jones, shared her expertise on the matter:
  I am a charter school survivor. I taught two and half years at two different charter schools and survived low pay, bounced paychecks, no pay, no running water when the school didn't pay the water bill, no personal leave time -- even to go to the doctor when sick, and many other things that public school teachers never (usually) have to contend with. Rather than leave the profession, I found a good public school district which I have now been at for 3 years. Charter schools are a training ground -- nothing more. Good teachers who love the profession should move along into the public schools and consider their charter school time a good learning experience in how NOT to do things.
• In a more recent study on teacher attrition by Vanderbilt University, dissatisfaction with working conditions was cited as the primary reason for teacher attrition among charter school teachers. plus, the rate of involuntary attrition (termination) was significantly higher among charter school teachers than their traditional counterparts. Another study on teacher attrition conducted in Wisconsin's schools, which is more biased toward ed deformers, cited lack of job security and demanding workload as the primary reasons for higher attrition rates among charter school teachers.
• Due to the current economic woes around the country, state budget cuts in education has not only affected public school teachers, but also charter school teachers as well.  For example, see what happened to the teachers in Oklahoma:
  Not even the current stimulus package from the feds can rescue charter school teachers.
• One of the perks of charter schools is having a non-unionized personnel. However, there is an increasing number of charter schools nationwide where their teachers have unionized, including in areas like NYC and Chicago.
• Throughout the country there are widespread cases of charter school executives and managers committing corruption, fraud, and profiteering of school funding, which some of it comes from taxpayers. It is also worthy to note many of these executives and managers are paid salaries much higher than superintendents and principals in public school systems.

There is no instructional leadership or real, holistic learning taken place in many of these charter schools. Instead, there is this "supervisor-subordinate" dynamic among a college-educated workforce; streamlined process of student learning that many students may not be prepared to handle; and an organizational culture where the "bosses" sit on top and are being paid nicely while the "peasants" work harder and are paid less. Of course, the ed deformers wants to portray teachers and teachers unions as being "greedy", "selfish", and "irresponsible"; they wish not to share their dirty little secret that who they are ACTUALLY describing are themselves. Oh the irony!

No professional, including many of these same ed deformers, wouldn't be who they are if it weren't for another set of professionals -- teachers. Educating children is not contingent on content mastery alone, but also pedagogical skills in understanding how children learn. That's the art of teaching. Learning is too complex for standardization. Yet, those who embrace the "business model" of schooling don't have a clue; for the people they claimed to fight for a good education will be hurt by this movement the most...our children.

UPDATE: Directly from Shanker Blog this morning comes a simple concern addressed to ed deformers: Do you REALLY think the teacher supply in the future is "deep" enough to withstand voluntary or involuntary attrition in schools, especially charter schools? I DON'T THINK SO!