I have not decided how I will vote.
I will not vote for Romney.
How I cast my vote will be decided in the next few weeks.
This teacher has decided:
I am one of the thousands of stunned teachers, and life long Democrats who was amazed by the actions taken by the current Democratic leadership in the war against teachers. I was one of the teachers who was fired, then rehired at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island.
Without warning, bad evaluation, or cold reasoning I was made the pillar and brunt of national jokes and political finger wagging.
The greatest hurt came when this president, on national news, commended the “bravery” of the superintendent when she fired the entire staff of the high school.
Without knowledge or background on the extreme level of poverty, crime, or lack of funding, President Obama called me a bad teacher.
This is the direction of the war against teachers. Along with Arne Duncan and of course the teachings of Rhee I have seen first hand the devastation caused by amateur educational reformers.
Replacement Teaching Fellows from 60 day certificate factories have lasted as little as 24 hours, some I find crying in the bathroom. Promised money disappears into administrative accounts, and the blame for kids that can’t see the light of day for the crushing poverty they live in rests with teachers.
So, for the first time since I walked the blocks for McGovern I will not vote for ta Democratic president.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The parents of one of my students this year were murdered this past week. I swear if I hear ONE person talk about this 8 year old’s test scores, good, bad or indifferent, I will throttle them.
Maybe it’s time for us to seriously consider third party candidates. I also feel that Obama has thrown teachers under the bus and is handing over our PUBLIC schools to corporations. I am too afraid of the alternative to vote for someone else, however. My vote for Obama is really a vote against Romney/Ryan.
Does this mean that you will not vote AT ALL? Or that you are voting for Romney? Neither of those is an acceptable alternative for me. Too many people are still out there dying – some literally – for the right, the privilege to vote – for me to throw that away. And if you think Obama is misguided (and in many ways I agree!) please understand that Romney is far worse. I have no choice but to vote for Obama and to keep fighting to be heard.
Read the post. I said, “I will not vote for Romney.”
If President Obama wants my vote, he should send a signal.
My response/my questions were for the teacher, not for you.
Thank you, Diane. It is about time someone of your stature comes out and says this. The unions should have said this months ago instead of wasting whatever leverage we have in mindlessly endorsing the Democrats.
People will vote, including myself, for a third party. I am sure like you most of us feel voting is too important not to, but all politics is local, and the president has not stood up for the large amount of teachers (cops and firemen indirectly, because after the teachers unions go, they will be next) that have supported him. I am still waiting for the president to buy that comfortable pair of shoes and walk the line with those in Wisconsin. I admit, being in NY makes it easier for me to make that decision, but every vote not counted by the major party Dems & GOP = Green ($) Party) gives us a chance to let them know that we are unhappy with the way the government is run
FIRE DUNCAN! Hire Ravitch!
He’s absolutely the worst president in the history of the country on education issues. It really is as non-negotiable as Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security, and Obama is making moves to dismantle those by having the nerve to put them on the “table” in the fake call for “shared sacrifice.” I will probably vote third party than vote for this neoliberal fraud who calls himself a “Democrat.” He’s NOT a Democrat. I think it will be inevitable the Democratic Party will be split off, with those on the left to the likes of the Third Way types like Obama, which is almost everybody else, forming their own party, while the right-wing will have the Democratic Party. The GOP will be increasingly marginalized.
I feel your sense of injustice! I believe this administration has pursued a lot of reactive measures which continue the misguided, consultant-heavy efforts initiated by the Bush administration. The result has been profits to testing companies like Pearson, anxiety for kids subjected to high-stakes tests, and arbitrary standards slashing jobs for qualified teachers.
I also know that 100 years ago, women organized and marched and went to jail or died for their right to vote. To honor their efforts and sacrifice, I never sit out an election, even if it means choosing between the lesser of two evils.
Lastly, I hope you wrote the President of the United States a personal note, telling him your experience, sharing your humiliation and frustration. When I taught high school, my home room students and I wrote to a pencil company (and several others), expressing our opinions about their products, and we always heard back. It essential for a functioning democracy that those of us with a story to tell do so. It is essential that you speak your truth to the President. Tell him you will not vote for him, and why.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call
Good luck!
I was going to say the same thing New New Yorker. I think the writer has beautifully articulated her pain and that should be pointed out to the president. If not through a personal letter, it could be done in an open letter to a major newspaper. We need to share these things to get the point across to the democrats that we feel abandoned and it could impact them.
Here’s my problem with choosing the 3rd party candidate. Because of the way the Electoral College works in the US, a 3rd party vote is simply tossed out unless a state can get the majority of voters to support the 3rd party. Also, since the 3rd party is so often on the liberal side, a 3rd party vote means fewer votes for the Democrat giving the Republican a leg up. If you strongly oppose the Republican then helping him by voting for the 3rd party seems the wrong path to take.
If we really want to promote a 3rd major party in the US, we need to start at the bottom. Get them voted in to local and state positions more. Then get a larger representation in at the national level, so that Congress and the Senate are more evenly split 3 ways. It would be at that point, when strong support for this 3rd party has been shown in various local, state and national races, that a 3rd party president might be a viable option.
It scares me to think about the number of normally Democrat votes that will be tossed out giving the Republican an advantage. I don’t agree with Duncan on much of anything and Obama has made his mistakes, especially with education, but Romney would be MUCH worse. If you agree, don’t help Romney by voting 3rd party.
So much misinformation. It’s interesting to see a site about a teacher yet readers who don’t seem to know state or federal election law.
In most states a 1% to 5% vote for a third party, gets the party a ballot line so local candidates can run and win. If you want Greens to have the opportunity to win local elections you’d likely need to vote for their Presidential candidate to create that possibility.
Nationally if that candidate gets 5% of the popular vote, the candidate and party get millions of dollars in funding in the next election cycle. So voting for that party increases the likelihood the party will be funded and move to viability.
In all but a few states, millions of votes for Obama will be wasted. They have zero impact on the electoral college. On the other hand only a small portion of that going to a candidate such as the Green Party’s Jill Stein, will allow Greens to run and win on the local level and get funding to be more competitive on the national level.
Voting for the Green Party’s Jill Stein is the PRACTICAL way to build a viable, competitive alternative party.
I will also vote for Obama as Romney as the alternative is too scary. I’m not a one issue voter and try to look at the overall package. As a woman, throwing my vote away on a 3rd party candidate would be akin to voting for Romney.
You might want to look at Jill Stein’s education policy. She will be on the ballot in all 50 states. I find her policy a refreshing change from the Dems & Repubs, AND I will be able to look at myself in the mirror.
After watching Bill Moyers interview with Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala, I have decided to vote Green Party this year. And it is true as another commentator said, it is better to start at the local level when voting third party. My job between now and Election Day is to write that letter to President Obama, telling him what he must do to get my vote, and to learn more about the Green Party in my community.
I do not like Obama’s education policy, but it is better than Romney’s. On many other issues, (the ones outside of education), I agree with Obama’s positions and have absolutely no faith that Romney can even tell the truth, let alone lead the country.
My free advice to teachers: if you live in a strongly “Blue” state, like California or New York, go ahead and cast a protest vote if you feel you need to.
But, if you live in a swing state, like Ohio or Florida, you may consider that any vote, other than a vote for Obama, is a vote for Romney. Take a serious look at the election of 2000 again, if you think this does not matter.
They are IDENTICAL on education policy; in fact, Romney would probably do LESS damage because presumably the Democrats would actually act like an opposition party instead of these wusses that give Obama and the GOP everything they want.
I watched Christie, Jeb Bush, Ryan, and Romney all speak out against teachers’ unions at their convention. There is no way I could support the GOP.
Obama is identical to them on ed policy. WHO do you think lit the match in the onslaught of “reform” efforts and the move to privatize education? Hint: It wasn’t Bush; it was Obama and Duncan.
As soon as Obama was inaugurated president, the movement has accelerated with unbelievable speed.
I decided long ago that I could not vote for Obama, and it would sheer madness to vote for Romney. I reject completely the idea that I have to vote for one or the other.
I will vote for a third party candidate who reflects my values and views, likely Jill Stein. My reasons are legion, but especially based on the demonization of teachers at the hand of the Secretary of Education and his cronies. Obama could have appointed an educator but choose not to, so I’m choosing too.
Spare me the baloney that “every vote counts.” That’s claptrap. Do the math, consider how many voters the RNC has sought to disenfranchise, and then call me if the election comes down to a tie.
In my case, it literally doesn’t matter whom I vote for.
I live in New York, which will go for Obama by at last half a million votes.
That leaves me free to vote my conscience.
I think I can swing a few votes in Ohio and Michigan.
Same here, Diane. I live in Oregon now, and it isn’t in play.
If I were still in Nevada, I’d probably have to wrestle with the decision.
As much as I understand how you feel–I too am a teacher–do you really think the Republicans are going to be fairer? They will utterly destroy ANY rights a teacher has.
That is a certainty.
Either vote for a party that will actively and happily destroy your rights.
Or vote for one that will stand by and watch in silence as it is done by others.
I totally agree with you Diane. This is the best time for teachers to band together and force Obama to change the direction of his education policy. Obama’s actions do not match his words. Democrats are banking that we will not voice opposition because we fear Romney. And they are right. Teachers by nature are fearful, so the joke at the end will be on us.That’s why I am so proud of Chicago!! They are taking on the Democrats and the Reformers!!
I found Maureen Dowd’s column today amusing given the fact she hammered Hillary during the election. Now she sees a different Obama. One who says one thing and does another.
btw, I am very impressed with Nikhal Goyal and am going to buy his book!!! Did you see his TV interview and how he handled the merit pay issue?? I have yet to see the leaders of the AFT and NEA stand up for teachers the way he did.
I was one of those who had hopeful tears in my eyes when the election was called for Obama. This New York City teacher will be voting against Romney – but, like Diane, I am undecided who I’ll be voting for. Being a New Yorker, I, too, have that luxury.
I now see third party candidates as a viable option.
I am definitely among those teachers who are not at all satisfied with the education track Pres. Obama has allowed the train to go. However, my age has me looking at other issues. What I see from the Romney/Ryan ticket and the Republican platform, I surely won’t have my vote be punched in as a vote for it. I don’t want to see this country get on that train.
I have heard this notion bandied about a bit:
If Romney wins, is it possible that a Romney victory could actually regalvanize the Democrats to behave more democratically and stand by teachers, unions, the middle class, etc.? Maybe we need to hit rock bottom before anything meaningful happens.
I am very seriously thinking of voting for a third party, but I’d give Obama a shot if I were to get a sincere indication that he would stand against the privatization of schools.
I am not willing to hit rock bottom when the price will be paid by other more vulnerable fellow citizens: those thrown off health insurance due to pre-existing conditions, those who will get voucher-care not Medicare, those denied the right to vote because they can’t produce the right kind of ID, those who will breathe contaminated air because some lobbyist argued successfully that corporations should not have to abide by those pesky environmental regulations, those women who get their health care at Planned Parenthood. I feel passionately about saving our public schools, but there are many other things at stake. I would rather fight with Obama about this than with Romney.
Exactly. People are still fooled by the kabuki theater or whatever it is that both parties are pulling. Romney could NEVER get away with what Obama is doing.
I live in Indiana…Romney will most likely carry this state as the people here continually vote against their own interests. If, by some miracle (like in 2008) it’s close I WILL vote for President Obama if only to make sure a Democrat nominates the next Supreme Court justice(s)…
If, and this is more likely, it’s not even close here and Romney continues to lead by 15 percentage points or more, I’ll write in a vote for Jill Stein, the Green Candidate. The Green Party platform includes the statement: “c. Oppose the administration of public schools by private, for-profit entities.”
They’re not perfect, but they won’t cheer when an entire school staff gets blamed for the community’s poverty level and they won’t appoint an Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education.
http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/2012/social-justice.php#education
I live in Ohio. Therefore, I will vote for Obama. After what Kasich did last year, ANY Republican scares me. When did an elected official’s job stop being about doing what his/her constituents wanted? And those of you who can, please vote against Cliff Hite. The fact that he was a teacher, and one I know, embarrasses me.
Obama is wrong on education, there is no doubt. Please, though, vote for him for all the other issues. We will be far, far worse off if Romney becomes our president. Then, after the election, when Obama wins a second term, let’s work to take on this education nonsense.
Here’s an excellent take on voting for the “lesser evil” by a fellow RI teacher: http://riredteacher.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/who-will-be-the-lesser-evil-in-2012/
Very interesting. It does make me rethink voting for Obama. Connecticut is a blue state and our seven electoral votes won’t count for much. Maybe I will send a message.
Michael Moore said the same thing in 2000. He campaigned for Ralph Nader. We got George W. Bush.
Think about it.
Politics is not about idealism; it’s about reality.
Republicans know this. Democrats can still be persuaded to lose.
I found it, umm, “interesting” that Obama spoke out against the firing of teachers in his convention speech given that he acclaimed the Cedar Falls firings and has instituted a system with RTTT that leads to firings in low-scoring schools.
He is a liar, that’s why.
So many thoughts –
Ralph Nader gave the election to George Bush – see Missouri to start.
Mr. Obama is a learner. So, initially he may have gotten caught up in the rhetoric of Rhee, the Harlem Zone, and Teach For Awhile. And, Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Duncan were / are… well stuck on message.
At the end of the day though this could be about the future public education. Right now there are 40+ kids in a room, privatization movements, and charter schools galore; but just keep asking when this is all said and done – on November 7th (that’s right 7, not 6th) Who do you want figuring it out for the next four years?
There’s a way to resolve all of this.
Excellent comment, Jere.
For those who think there’s no difference between Romney and Obama, look at Romney’s comment about the teachers’ strike in Chicago:
http://www.mittromney.com/news/press/2012/09/mitt-romney-chicago-teachers-union-turning-its-back-families-relying-public-schoo
I too feel as tho I have no choice. Both parties have devastated public schools and made teachers out to be villians when we are the only ones with our fingers in the dam.
This Facebook page was started in hopes of changing Obama’s position on RTTT. I think people who want to join are afraid. They fear Romney, and therefore don’t know how to view this page. It’s time to send Obama a strong message. And this is the exact time to do it! We have to at least try.
https://www.facebook.com/TeachersandParentsNotVoting?ref=ts
I “liked” that Facebook page. Still don’t know how I will vote in November. It all depends on Obama’s comments on the CTU and RTTT, which so far have not wowed me.
He clapped!