Politics and Money in Education, NoBueno!

The discussion of education in the media has gotten rather absurd. Between the CA verdict yesterday and the ad run today in the USA Today bashing teachers I am flabbergasted that things have come this far. The instigators have made a case in the press that they claim to be teachers versus kids. That is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever come across. Teachers are all about kids! We are for kids, for education, for the benefit of our nation and world's future. It IS what we do, it IS what we ARE.

Offensive much?

Are they serious?! Well, I guess that now they have a set precedent of a court ruling that due process is unconstitutional. Interesting, isn’t it? I guess if we all dropped millions of dollars into a press campaign during a trial we could all have a bit more of a say in it’s outcome. Too bad I’m a teacher, not a millionaire.

Be clear, the war in education is special interests versus educators. I do not use the term "Special Interests" in some generic way, I mean people who are attempting to turn our education system into a wholly new avenue for profit. I mean people like Rick Berman, David Welch, Ben Austin, and so many more. They want to dismantle the current education system in order to create profit centers for themselves, and it is US the educators that see their farcical actions as what they are, a way to get rid of experienced teachers (which by the way is the #1 predictor of student success) and replace them with poorly trained maybe-college grads who only have a shelf life of a few years before the next crop of stepping-stone educators come in to take their spot, never building a community of learning anywhere or a foundation of true support for students and families.

I am not claiming that our system is perfect, it does need some remodeling. Yes there are some in the field that should go elsewhere and we need a system to remove them (there is one, by the way, but it is dependent upon competent administrators).

But this battle that is waging in the press, striking fear into the hearts of parents, and teachers, is not getting us where we need to go. These reformers, are not aiming to help the lives of children, they are trying to line their pockets to the detriment of our children. That includes my children, so I am angry as a parent as a teacher.

Please do not fall into their marketing tactics intended to scare the public into this ploy. But don’t take my word for either, talk to your kids' teachers, talk to other educators you know, see what is really going on in the schools. Please do not sell out our children’s education so that the already-rich can get richer to the detriment of our children’s education and future. Because THAT is exactly what is going on here.

Here is a great blog post for further reading on the current issue.