Jessie B. Ramey attended a meeting at the White House with a delegation of Pennsylvania educators.
Ramey wrote an open letter to Roberto Rodriguez, President Obama’s education advisor, asking the White House to stop berating educators and public education.
Based on the story in The Atlantic claiming that Michelle Rhee is “taking over the Democratic Party,” it becomes imperative for President Obama to distance himself from Rhee’s anti-teacher ideas.
Does President Obama support charter schools, like Rhee? Yes.
Does President Obama support for-profit schools, like Rhee? He hasn’t said.
Does President Obama worry about a dual school system in American cities, with charters for the haves and public schools for the have-nots? We need to know.
Does President Obama want entire school staffs to be fired because of low test scores? He said no at the Convention but he supported the firing of the staff at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island and his Race to the Top turnaround strategy supports mass firings. Does he approve or disapprove?
Does President Obama truly want to stop the odious practice of teaching to the test? Will he explain how teachers can avoid teaching to the test if their pay and their job depends on student test scores?
President Obama must let the nation’s teachers know that he is with them. He can do so by disassociating himself from Rhee’s anti-teacher agenda, as well as from policies pushed by his own Race to the Top.
And he could go to Chicago and tell Rahm Emanuel to settle with the teachers and do what is right for the children of Chicago.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Obama could also do what he pledged when he was running for president:
“…when I’m in the White House, I will put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself, I’ll walk on that picket line with you as President of the United States of America. Because workers deserve to know that somebody is standing in their corner.
Time to return home and walk the picket line, Mr. President, and assure teachers across America that you really are standing in their corner.
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I’m curious to know how this letter was received by Mr. Rodriguez, as well as what Dr. Ramey did, in fact, say in her talk of September 6th. I firmly believe that if you, Diane, in addition to Dr. Ramey, etc., were given the opportunity to speak with President Obama for even 30 minutes, the absurdity of our current state of “mis”education would become clear to him. At best, hopefully he will see your excellent suggested speech for him, “How President Obama Could Win the Election.”
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I hope it happens.
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Sorry if this comes off as unduly cynical, but privatizing the schools is one of the projects of the Obama administration, just as cutting back Social Security and Medicare benefits is. The Overclass needs a Democrat to implement these projects – and in the ultimate act of cynicism, they found a Black Democrat to do it – for by doing so they split the constituencies that might otherwise effectively mobilize against them, as happened when Bush II tried to privatize Social Security. Just as a Republican was needed to establish trade with the Godless Red Chinese, so too is a Democrat needed to turn the public schools over to vulture capital, and begin the gradual elimination of what remains of the New Deal and Great Society.
Obama is a neoliberal to his core, and always has been. As Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report has said, he is not the Lesser Evil, but the More Effective Evil. Despite the false discourse that he is weak and ineffective, look at what he has “accomplished:” Gitmo remains open, the Surveillance State has expanded, income inequality has increased, law enforcement has become increasingly aggressive and militarized, deportations of immigrants have increased, and education is being rapidly privatized. All of these policies exist independently of any limits placed on Obama by a Republican House of Representatives
Before I get accused of supporting Romney, understand that’s not what I’m saying. If you live in a swing state, by all means, vote for Obama, but don’t delude yourself and indulge in the magical thinking that says the “real Obama” will miraculously appear. Race to the Top is the real Obama.
The only alternative is to resist the encroaching corporate state in whatever ways we can, mobilize on the streets, and show local and state Democratic candidates that there’s a price to be paid for selling out the people you claim to represent. The Chicago Teachers Union is showing the way; let’s take our inspiration from them, and not The Great Imposter.
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Thanks for spelling it out so clearly and concisely.
As for the alternative you write of -that will be easier said than done. Alas, I am the only teacher wearing the color red today in my NYC public school…
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Good for you!
Diane
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For more from Glen Ford, see this video:
Glen Ford: Corporate Assault on Public Education
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Glen Ford is a good one to read!
And I don’t know that anyone in my school even has a clue as to what is going on in the Chi-Town. (other than the Cubbies being the Cubbies, sorry couldn’t resist).
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I would wear red if I were still a teacher (I taught preschool in a low income preschool last year). Alas, I am currently a counselor because when we moved, I found this job before I found another preschool job. However, I\’ve already begun working through a masters + certification program so I will become eligible to each in the public schools in a couple of years. I do it with a heavy but hopeful heart, as I am well aware of the increasing rancor that has been proliferating throughout the media and public consciousness over the last several years, and I do not look forward to untold wasted hours spent teaching my future students standardized testing nonsense. Nonetheless, we need more voices in this struggle, and I am raising mine.
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Is Obama a liberal?
No.
Was there a liberal who challenged him in the Democratic primaries?
No.
Did we have a viable liberal candidate around who could at least pull Obama to the left?
No.
Now, whose fault is that? Obama’s?
No.
I voted for Obama in 2008. I didn’t think he was “the Messiah.”
I thought he was Bobby Kennedy.
He is not Bobby Kennedy.
But, really, who is?
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