Joe Bower asks the right question: “What are you doing to make Obama rethink his education policies?”
Obama will never stand for election again.
He is free to do what he wants.
Congress has given him a free hand.
He knows what is right for his daughters.
He chose a great school with experienced teachers, small classes, a full curriculum, a library, the arts, and NO standardized testing.
The teachers don’t get merit pay for higher student scores; they don’t get evaluated by their students’ scores.
Can we persuade him to see that what he wants for his children is what we want for all children?
What can you do?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Can we persuade him to see that what he wants for his children is what we want for all children?
I’ve not reviewed the curriculum at Sidwell Friends, but the Wikipedia entry doesn’t look that promising. Would their civics education favorably impress Justices O’Connor and Souter? Would it meet expectations under US treaty obligations?
A lavishly financed yet objectively deficient public education isn’t mandated by most state constitutions. President Obama would better fulfill his oath of office by helping states live up to their individual constitutional mandates.
The President will not make any meaningful changes to his education policies (Papa BROAD, Rhee, Christie, Cerf, Bloomberg, Gates and gang are quite pleased).
Those who voted and supported the President will get what they voted for and have no reason to expect politicians to hear or respect their views.
Elections have consequences, this election proved that most educators are willing to drink the dirty water Democratic politicians send their way.
You will get what you voted for. Next time, don’t support the lesser evil.
Obama is only one part of a complex group of decision makers. If people don ‘t express counter opinions the assumption is we’re satisfied.
Obama doesn’t care about you. He’s too busy being a celebrity. Best case scenario? Race to the Top, Arne Duncan, and half of the Department of Ed get pushed off the fiscal cliff.
Yes
So the is to whine constantly and give up?
So the answer is to whine constantly and give up?
I can’t remember the writer’s name, but one of the letters sent to Obama (and published widely as well) was from a woman who worked with the teacher that Obama cited quite favorably in his book (Miss Ruby, I think)? Anyway, this writer talked about the conditions under which she and Miss Ruby now work – overcrowded schools, high levels of kids in poverty, more and more unfunded mandates, etc. She talked about how Race to the Top has made their jobs so much more difficult and even threatened their jobs, their school and the kids in the school. The letter was extremely well written and very moving. If that letter, along with 400+ other letters, didn’t change Obama’s mind, then I fail to see what will.
I think the letters campaign was a worthy effort to try to catch his attention before the election, but now we have to face the fact that he doesn’t care and he’s not going to change course (or if he does, it will be for the worse). I think we need to focus on ways to resist his efforts while at the same time appealing to elected officlals closer to home (and/or trying to become such elected officials ourselves).
Are you talking about my letter? http://mskatiesramblings.blogspot.com/2012/10/letter-to-obama.html I was hoping that Obama would be moved by a personal connection. But I doubt Obama read my, or the other letters sent in. I often wonder if he just doesn’t realize the implications of his policies. I wonder if he’s just too busy and therefore only hears the feedback from Duncan and the DOE. I have hope in those moments. But then I think, how can he NOT know? And so I am resigned to think there will continue to be more and more “Marys” out there….
We had the wherewithal to get President Obama’s ear…..prior to the election. Our union leaders could’ve put pressure on the President by withholding support, instead they gave him an early endorsement. Perhaps via this blog teachers could begin a campaign to oust the presidents of the NEA, AFT, and the UFT unless they begin to show more backbone against the policies of Obama and the rest of the reformers which includes the Billionaire Boys Club. In NYC the UFT “STILL” supports mayoral control which has been an unmitigated disaster resulting in chronic chaotic conditions in the schools.
It’s pretty obvious by now Weingarten is a mole working both sides of the aisle. She needs to be ousted from AFT.
And Dennis Van Roekel is as bad as Weingarten. They both need to go.
How do we go about ousting those presidents? I’ve asked the question more than once, and no one seems to know. Could it be that there is no way for leadership of the unions to be removed? Is it that totalitarian? If there is a way to remove corrupt leaders, and someone starts the process, I will definitely sign onto it.
Until the “dues check-off” is removed union leaders will have no incentive to go against political leaders. In fact it’s in the union leaders interest to not rock the boat since it is the political policies ….check-off….that guarantees union survival. Unless the union leadership has to fight for its survival by giving teachers a real reason to join and pay dues, union leaders will continue to do the bidding of politicians while trying to give the appearance of fighting for its members.
How did they do it in Chicago? How did the Chicago teachers get a leader like Karen Lewis? How did they go about getting someone who was willing to stand up to anti-teacher Democrats, as opposed to settling for another sit-at-the-table quisling like we have at national and state levels? How do we take what they did and apply it at a higher level in the union?
These are the questions teachers need to be asking and working on.
Obama is not going to change, and as long as teachers reward anti-teacher Democrats with their support at the national and local levels, our profession will continue to be dismantled. We need to work on getting more leaders like Karen Lewis in place to save the teaching profession, as well as the public schools.
Michael, I hear what you say about the “dues check-off,” but that is not going to change any time soon. So we need to figure out how the Chicago teachers did what they did, and replicate it.
In response to your question about how did Chicago do it: As a Chicago teacher who is heavily involved in the push-back here, the rise of the CORE caucus (which Karen Lewis is a part of) was begun by just 10 teachers asking themselves what they could do to stop the school closings and privatizations here in Chicago. They began by just reaching out, having conversations with fellow educators. They attempted to engage the union leadership at the time, but when they hit brick wall after brick wall, they reluctantly realized they were going to have to run for leadership themselves. They were elected into office in 2010. They then opted out of the union leadership raises in order to fund positions for more organizers. The union then went teacher to teacher, school to school, community to community talking, listening, and engaging. The CTU represents a true (albeit messy) democratic (small “d”) institution which is bigger than just the union officials. Karen Lewis is fantastic, she is an inspiration, she “gets it” like no one else. But she is not the CTU. The 26,000 members are and they are now educated and mobilized into action!
Thank you, Katie. How do we go about doing that at the national level. That is what we need.
Start where you are and drop the negativity!
Some are trying to change the leadership of the UFT. Nothing will improve until the current leadership is ousted. Case in point – the UFT has just agreed to RTTT application.
Change will start here: http://morecaucusnyc.org/
The Movement of Rank and File Educators is the Social Justice Caucus of the UFT- New York City’s Teachers union. Educate, Organize, Mobilize our educators, parents, students, and community in defense of a better public education for all.
Wow! I went to the morecaucusnyc.org website. Very cool.
Step 1: convince an ultra wealthy person that “school reform” is detrimental to the economy, and that Ravitch’s way is best for students, society, and the economy.
Step 2: convince the ultra wealthy person to host fundraisers for Obama and his political allies.
Step 3: convince the ultra wealthy person to form a foundation dedicated to lobbying and advocacy for public schools.
Protest at Sidwell Friends! Demand testing those students everyday. Close the library..cancel the arts…send in bubble sheets and Michelle Rhee to supervise. Donate your leftover test prep crap to Sasha and Malia.
In spite of President Obama’s election win, and his apparent presumed relative freedom of action in the area of education, my sense is that education for other people’s children is the absolute lowest of his priorities. What I do not understand is WHY. Tim Geithner said this morning (Saturday) on a cable news show that he expects a replacement for himself will be “in place” by the middle of January, i.e. that we will have a new Secretary of the Treasury. I have heard talk that there will be a new Secretary of State, either Susan Rice of edited CIA talking points fame, or John Kerry, whom even Senator Portman of Ohio said he could support. I have heard zero talk that there will be a new secretary of Education. If not, there will most likely be no change in education policy. But WHY remains a puzzle to me. This is all speculation on my part, of course, but if anyone accepts my premise, I would love to hear a persuasive explanation of my conclusion. I don’t yet perceive the middle term.
It has already been confirmed that Duncan is staying on for a second term. Obama needs to keep someone around to play basketball with doesn’t he?
If Obama were to replace Duncan, he would replace him with Rhee. The problem is not with the cabinet member. The problem is with the cabinet member’s boss.
But WHY? It seems to me to be completely counter to his own interests, philosophically and politically. WHY is the President in favor of privatization of education. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. One of my friends wants Diane Ravitch as education secretary.
I’m just guessing, but I think it’s because he’s surrounded himself with people who tell him it’s the cool, hip, modern, neo thing to do.
President Obama is a great hero of DFER, the Wall Street hedge fund managers group. He was their inaugural speaker in 2005.
FYI, I have no interest in any political appointments.
Can all the letters be sent again? Maybe without an election on the agenda, is it possible they might actually get read by somebody now?
There’s a lot that teachers could do, that other workers have been forced to do in the past when they reached the point of having nothing left to lose …
I guess you’re just not there yet …
Freedom’s just another word …
We can do anything we set our minds to, we need to not let discouragement get in our way!
And we voted him back in office because….??? Really? He brought Arne Duncan to office with him from Chicago where Mr. Obama and he were responsible for the overtaking of schools that were failing. Why would he take him out of office now? All is going according to plan. If he were the lesser of two evils then everything is going according to plan. Of course he has free reign. And in 40 days when we go bankrupt, I’m sure there is an even bigger plan for a government for which we should really be concerned. But then, it is all according to plan. The plan in which if considered the lesser of two evils, his original plan would continue and we will exist by the government. Why would anyone encourage us to vote for this kind of presidency? It’s not simply in education that things should be of great concern. It’s seems to be much bigger. A recent workshop given by a non partisan health care evaluator described the “plan” for our future government healthcare. From the description of details as to the rollout in our state, at least, it appears to be a plan for which the medical professionals are unprepared and for which there is not enough funding..My understanding that Mr. Obama was seen in a much more positive light because of his response to Hurricane Sandy is somewhat disconcerting. New Orleans has sat in disarray for years and once this sitting president took office, I don’t recall of hearing any great need to help bring that disaster back to order. The convenience of Sandy may have sealed our fate.
Is it true that federal rules about education are related only to receiving federal money? If a state did not take federal education money, could they plot their own course? How much does it cost to manage the federal money? Is there a governor who is brave enough to refuse federal dollars and the strings that come with it? This governor, in collaboration with the teachers in the state, could give control back to the professionals in the classrooms.
Any state that refused federal money would be free of federal mandates. The federal money accounts for 10% of funding. It may seem small but no state is willing to forego that 10%.
Let’s follow the path of the crazy secessionists (Did I just write that?) and petition Obama through his “We the People” initiative. Can we get 13,000 signatures?
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/
Lehrer, I think that is a great idea. Any takers willing to start the petition. It would be easy to get the signatures. How about it Diane? We have some excellent composers here at this blog. Maybe the media will pay attention if we get enough people ( teachers, parents, educators, tax payers, etc.). We can do this!