The new, utterly distinguished Badass Teachers Association is roaring to life.
It has a website, a Twitter account, a blog site, and 10,000 members.
These are teachers who say a loud No to corporate reform that seeks to turn us all into data points, aggregate us, disaggregate us, buy and sell our schools, and put us into a portfolio.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I am a proud member of the Badass Teachers Association (as a retired teacher of the deaf) and the Parents and Teachers Against the Common Core. I posted this this morning.This description of true teaching and learning by Lisa Delpit is the education that all of our children need and deserve. It is the antithesis of the Common Core/data-obsessed philosophy of learning detached from life.
“Multiplication is for White People”: Raising Expectations for Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit, 2012, The New Press
page 49
“We can educate all children if we truly want to. To do so, we must first stop attempting to quantify their capacity. We must be convinced of their inherent intellectual capability, humanity, and spiritual character. We must fight the foolishness proliferated by those who believe that one number can measure the worth and drive the education of human beings or that predetermined scripts can make for good teaching. Finally, we must learn who our children are—their lived cultures; their interests; and their intellectual, political, and historical legacies. Like Carrie Secret, we must create Perry’s ‘intentional communities,’ designed around a counter-narrative—one that affirms black brilliance both to the students themselves and to their communities. Like Paula White-Bradley, we must call upon the connections to their heritage to touch the spirits of the children we meet.”
Since you wrote this, almost at 12,000! Growing every minute. Teachers united arm in arm across the US to take back the profession that we love!
Dear Dr. Ravitch – thank you again for your amazing support of the Badass Teachers Association. As I am sure you understand our numbers have skyrocketed because we are angry and we want a seat at the table! We are angry about many things and we want many things. I have asked the teachers to comment here what they want? We had a beautiful thread full of their hopes and dreams for the future of education of this country. We are a spirited group and we are a passionate group. Thank you again for all YOUR hard work and support.
Marla Kilfoyle
BAT – TWITTER DESIGNER
I too am a member of this great group and happily call myself a BAT (Bad Ass Teacher). This group is just spreading the attitude that took over Indiana last fall when teachers and parents convinced 1.3 million voters in the state that the “reforms” of Tony Bennett were not good for education in Indiana. The group is over 11,000 now and probably will soar past 12,000 before the end of the day. Teachers are not going to stay quiet any longer.
Yes! In many states children are being turned into sources of revenue! That’s why I joined the Badass Teachers Association!
Never underestimate the strength of a small group of committed people … And, certainly, never underestimate the strength of a whole lot of bad ass teachers.
Thanks for recognizing teachers everywhere, Diane. #YouBadAssToTheBone
Thank you Diane! I’m also proud to be a BAT. I’ve been on Facebook since the beginning and this is the most amazing experience I’ve had there. Many thanks to the teachers who started this group!
Teachers are tired of being blamed for the poor decision-making of clueless legislators. Thanks to Dr. Ravitch and ALL who stand behind this most noble of professions. It is going to take a few badasses to speak out for those who have been bullied into submission.
Organizing is the only way to stop them. Do it. All must join to stop them. They must be hit from all sides just like the Russians did to the Germans. Encircle and finish them off. After all, that is what they are trying to do to the rest of us.
agree with you George, and so did “Ernesto”
Crear dos, tres…
muchos Viet-Nam, es la consigna
Also proud to be a BAT. I have felt this tug inside me, telling me to get more involved, speak up more loudly, generate in other teachers the wherewithal to do the same. I am so excited to see where this journey takes me (and us!)
Welcome to the Revolution!!
Glad to be connected to BTA. My digital story tells it all…and has a shout out to your wonderful book, Death and Life of the Great American School System. It was like the cool rain that ends a horrible drought. Thanks for all you’ve done to bring the message of honor and humanism to schooling. In case you’d like to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMQYClohV0c
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
Indeed!
I am proud to be a member of this group. I hope that people are listening. The madness the is the Common Core … and the high-stakes testing that accompanies it – must be stopped. When my son was in 3rd grade (NYS) they began yearly testing in ELA and math (NCLB.) They said that yearly testing would prepare him for college. (I think it did … along with some great teaching. He just finished freshman year at college and was on dean’s list.) BUT …. the politicians look at this same group of children and have declared them unfit for college. They claim CCSS and more testing will make them college and career ready. I’m wondering if the NCLB testing that my son and his peers endured is partially responsible for their lack of “readiness”?
I was a member, but after turning off the notifications, my inbox was still overloaded. So I had to leave the group. Not sure what went wrong.
Also, some teachers didn’t want teachers to post what they were experiencing, and only wanted to keep it “positive”. In other words, no activism. Not willing to get into a war of words on people who still insist on hiding their heads in the sand. I am hoping one thing that will come out of this is a national day of outrage where teachers can go to their local town hall or city hall to protest. It’s hard to get everyone to Washington, DC. I see NC has already started a movement.
just wanted to say that as you can imagine having a group go from 0 to 12,000 in a week is something that does not come with a few kinks and trials. With so many people coming from so many experiences, communities and own personal beliefs into a group so rapidly, it had a few ups and downs. We are working very hard to include everyone and set that standard in this group. Thank you for sharing school gal and Diane Ravitch..thank you for your support.
My sense is that activism is going to be a central element if this group develops cohesion. I certainly hope that it does!
I am also a proud member of BAT. Education of our children cannot be allowed in the hands of those who only see children as a means to their corporate profits.
Dear Dianne,
Thank you for get the word out about the BTA. But many more thank you’s for you unrelenting interest in the education of the children of our nation. Thank you also for your clear, concise and honest reporting and reflecting on education.
Mary MacKinnon, Maine
One of the first BAT actions is to call the White House tomorrow to demand that Arne Duncan be fired and replaced with an educator! What a concept, eh? We need a leader who believes in public education, not corporate takeover and privatization. 202-456-1111. Call tomorrow!
Three thoughts –
1.Follow the money.
2.Post-industrial promise of education (since 1954, actually) (inclusive, every (not some) student, high expectations, international competition, & equity) vs. Industrial (era) funding approach
3. The revolution will not be televised
I am one proud BAT!
BATS stand up for themselves, their fellow educators and speak out.
Please join us!
Just hit 12,000 members!
Dear Dr. Ravitch,
Thank you so much for your support and for your referral to our nascent blog. Many of us on the BTA team admire you and your work.
In the past 6 hours the BTA site has grown by 1,000 members now over 13,000. And this is in just 7 days. The existence and growth of this group if very similar to the movement that took Tony Bennett out of office in Indiana and put Glenda Ritz in office. When school was starting last fall several Facebook groups popped up in support of Ritz and we started talking. Within months a little known candidate with only $100K was able to defeat the well-financed Tony Bennett, the spawn of Jeb Bush’s disgusting reforms. And the defeat wasn’t anything to ignore, Ritz received 1.3 million votes, beating Tony by nearly 10 points in the percentage of voters. All of this occurred because there were teachers that started talking, and writing and getting active. Tony Bennett lost his election because he ignored us and dismissed us as insignificant. So a small group of teachers made a change in Indiana, and this big group of teachers will make a change nationally. Thank you Diane for giving us giving us the recognition we need.
Diane: I just mentioned this in your comments section on another page and didn’t realize you’d already posted this! Thank you so much for your support!!!!!!!
Up past 14,000 members and growing! Lots of people have been calling the White House switchboard today asking for Arne Duncan’s removal. I have no illusions that his dismissal will be on the front page of the papers tomorrow, but I do know that the operator was chuckling when I made my call – and when my daughter made hers (she’ll be entering middle school this fall). Followed it up with a written comment on the Whitehouse.gov page to boot – with more before and after me there as well!
Not bad for a group only 10 days old. Now bad at all! 🙂
*Not bad. Maybe a little less coffee on a Monday. LOL
Diane, Thank you for posting this and for ALL that you do for public education. I read your blog everyday and it inspires me everyday. I am also a proud BAT and called the White House today asking that Duncan be replaced by an educator. This young group (10 days old) is certainly proving that teachers had a need to unite. Teachers are taking back public education from the corporate “reformers” and demanding a quality education for ALL students; not just the students of today, but those of yesterday and tomorrow. Thank you for encouraging us to have a voice and to use it.
I would love to hear more about how these folks came up with this idea. It’s obviously timely as there was a conversation at Edcamp Boston in early May on the same topic using the same language even- Becoming a Badass Teacher. It’s obviously touched something important in the zeitgeist!
Thanks Dr. Ravitch! We are now past 15,000 Badass Teachers! We had a great call-in to dump Duncan event today! I am an Admin on the page, and while we are experiencing growing pains, our focus remains the same!! This is a call to action to stop the standardization and privatization of PUBLIC education!
The story has made it to the Orlando Sentinel (blog).
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/blogs/school-zone/os-badass-teachers-association-fights-education-policies,0,6508277.post
I am a proud Ohio BAT. Keep up the fight for our kids, Diane, and we will too!