This came from a parent in California, who revised my draft:
Submitted on 2012/10/03 at 6:02 pm
I second the motion for a similar letter coming from parents. Here’s my draft…
***
Dear President Obama,
We assume you know that there are many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of parents, who are disappointed in your education policies.
We assume you know that some will vote for you reluctantly, some will vote for a third party candidate, and some will not vote at all. Our votes will make a difference.
Given the choice between you and Mitt Romney, who seems to view public education with contempt, we want to help you win back the hearts and mind of teachers and parents.
Here are ways to do that.
Please, sir, stop talking about rewarding and punishing teachers. As a parent, I wish for my children to be taught by a well paid professional, not a piece-worker in some factory. I wish for teachers who are managed by experienced, qualified principals and administrators, not given top-down contrived hurdles to jump over.
Please, sir, stop encouraging the privatization of public education. Many studies demonstrate that charters don’t get better results than public schools unless they exclude low-performing children. Public schools educate all children. Charters are tearing our communities apart, pitting parent against parent and created a “them versus us” situation in what were once tight neighborhoods.
Please, sir, speak out against the spread of for-profit schools. These for-profit schools steal precious tax dollars to pay off investors. Those resources belong in the classroom. The for-profit virtual schools get uniformly bad reviews from everyone but Wall Street. In business, what’s bad for your competitor is great for you. The “competition” your policy is fostering is of the typical corporate “cut-throat” variety. It gives private companies incentives to destroy our public schools. Charter school supporters in my town have fought against funding for public schools because the worse it is for our public schools the better it is for their charter school. This is madness.
Please, sir, withdraw your support from the failed effort to evaluate teachers by the test scores of their students. The American Educational Research Association and the National Academy of Education issued a joint paper saying that such methods are inaccurate and unstable. Teachers get high ratings if they teach the easiest students, and low ratings if they teach the most challenging students. I don’t want my children growing up only knowing how to fill in little bubbles. I don’t what my children growing up never learning the things I learned in school because they aren’t on the test.
Please, sir, stop closing schools and firing staffs because of low scores. Low scores are a reflection of high poverty, not an indicator of bad schools or bad teachers. Insist that schools enrolling large numbers of poor and minority students get the resources they need to succeed. I am lucky and my children are easy–they don’t need as much resources to teach as the less fortunate do.
Please, President Obama, recognize that your policies are demoralizing teachers. Many are leaving the profession. Young people are deciding not to become teachers. Your policies are ruining a noble profession. I don’t want my children taught by “what is left over”.
President Obama, we want to support you on November 6.
Please give us reason to believe in you again.
I am a parent.
/signed,
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awesome!!!
Why isn’t it “hearts and minds” (instead of “hearts and mind”)? I saw this on both letters and wondered if I am missing something grammatically.
Since most teachers and maybe some parents have Columbus Day off maybe we can also call the White House and Arne’s office. Despite want Arne tells the public, teachers do NOT support him or his policies:
ARNE DUNCAN
First Name: ARNE
Last Name: DUNCAN
Primary Phone: (202) 401-3000
E-Mail Address: arne.duncan@ed.gov
Location
Region: HEADQUARTERS
Building Name: LBJ EDUCATION BUILDING
Building Address: 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC
Up to 2,500 characters:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Call the President
PHONE NUMBERS
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
TTY/TTD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitor’s Office: 202-456-2121
Grammar check: So, is it “as much resources” or “as many resources”? And, is it “hearts and mind” or “hearts and minds”?
I will check and fix. I often write quickly and make mistakes.
Also this: “Charters are tearing our communities apart, pitting parent against parent and created a “them versus us” situation in what were once tight neighborhoods.”
“created” should be “creating”.
I fixed that error.
Can we add something about how all parents would like an education like the one his daughters receive? That is one of the most powerful criticisms of charter schools that I have read on this site.
Seconded.
I agree with Lehrer. I am a teacher librarian and Obama’s children’s school has three libraries. Our schools in California are closing the libraries. Charters rarely if ever have libraries. I’ve found only one that does in Los Angeles.
Please remove “Please, sir.” He isn’t our king that we are begging for favors from; he’s our elected representative, who, on at least this issue, has not done the job we elected him to do.
I speak that way to the president to show respect.
Diane
It’s a sign of respect for the office.
I use “sir” with men I don’t know (even with men I know if I respect them) not because they are in a “higher” hierarchical social position nor because of the public office but as a way of softening my speech, for example: ‘You, sir, are full of shit and don’t know what the hell you are talking about.” And that is how I would address both mainstream candidates for the presidency. Neither has earned my respect especially in regard to education policy. Both have actually earned my disrespect and disgust with their prior actions.
Affording respect to those that haven’t earned my respect just because of their social position goes against my sense of equality in a supposedly “equal” status for all nation. Heaven forbid us peons would not address our “superiors” in the fashion they think is appropriate-screw them!
Obama sounded pretty committed to RTTT in the debate. In fact his opening remarks about it made me ill. 😦 I hope he gets over a million emails from parents and teachers to help open his eyes.
After tonight’s sub-par performance where he held up RttT as the greatest thing to happen to education – it will be hard. In addition, he’ll cut our Social Security benefits ala Tip and Ron 1983.We’ll just be teaching forever until we drop, if Arne, Barack, Wendy, and the billionaires allow.
Don’t worry about teaching forever. When they destroy the unions, your performance reviews will allow them to get rid of you for a cheaper recruit. Then, you just have to worry about how you will survive until you are eligible for retirement benefits if there are any left.
Note that I said, “draft” above. My real copy won’t have typos :-).
I wonder if RTTT is not O’s tragic flaw… He may not deserve to win…
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Certainly not his only tragic flaw. Assassinating U.S. citizens (including 16 year old ones) is top on that list. Others on the list: passing a Republican inspired healthcare “reform”, not only failing to close GITMO but also opening “GITMO East” at Bagram Air Base, invoking “state’s secrets” more often than even Bush did, raining death by drone strike on half a dozen Muslim countries, and continuing the Bush-era tax breaks for gadzillionaires. I’m sure there’s plenty more, but it’s too early in the morning.
De acuerdo.
In the debate tonight, when Obama said the problem with private health care is that money goes to administration and profits before the provision of actual health care services, I couldn’t help but wonder why he fails to recognize that this is the very same issue with charter schools. WTF?
It’s not just a problem with the for-profit schools either. It’s well documented that non-profit administrators often receive highly inflated salaries, and I’ve worked at enough non-profit schools to know they often have funds that never find their way to classrooms, too.
Maybe these things need to be highlighted for the president?
In terms of the “top five” for me, I also think of the recent study that shows charter schools simply replacing private schools for 1/3 of the students who attend them, costing an estimated $1.8B nationwide from parents switching from private to public charter. It’s basically a tax cut for the rich and a completely absurd use of charter schools.
Charters are getting kids who would have otherwise gone to Catholic schools, too, forcing them into the red and necessitating they close. In my area, that resulted in a very reputable 100 year old Catholic high school shutting down for all but its senior class this year and renting the rest of the building to a charter school. So sad.
That’s very interesting. What Catholic school was that? Concrete examples are useful.
Thank you for a cogent letter. I am heartened by the support of parents who “get it.”