Michael Weston, Hillsborough County teacher, attended
Florida Governor Rick Scott’s three-day education summit. But
Governor Scott had better things to do. He
was busy meeting with Jeb Bush, who is the state’s
education expert. They discussed the future of education in
Florida. Parents were not happy that the Governor skipped the
chance to meet with them. Weston is a BAT, and
this is what he saw.
Here is a sample:
“In spell checking this document, I bounced “accountability” off the
Thesaurus. “Culpability” came up. Switching to the dictionary, the first
word to catch my eye was “blame”. “Blame” puts the no-governor Governor’s
Summit into better perspective. Why do politicians hate teachers so? What
did we ever do but educate them? Are they twisted to a dense ball of rage
inside because teachers attempted to instill a code of responsibility,
decency and morality in them; a code they cannot live up to? Are teachers to
blame for politicians as well?”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Why do politicians hate teachers so? What did we ever do but educate them?”
Huh? How many actually went to a public school? I was private schooled from K-12, and I even attended private, Christian colleges for my many education degrees.
I didn’t step foot in a public school, until I began teaching. It took me a decade and multiple education degrees before I finally figured out what public schools were about, how they were supposed to work, and why it was important that I become an advocate for local public schools.
I bet many politicians simply don’t have a clue, like I didn’t (for so long).
My favorite is the architect of the NCLB Act, Sandy Kress, that sent his kids to an elite private school that touted on their website that their students didn’t take standardized tests.
http://jasonstanford.org/2012/07/let-them-eat-tests/
I don’t know that they hate them, but, here in Florida, it seems teachers are lowly state workers. The governor just gave the teachers a raise through the latest school funding bill.
Raise you say? Not yet. It is up to individual districts to determine the actual distribution; their options include more than just teachers. Has any teacher in Florida seen the money?
I don’t think politicians hate teachers. I don’t think they give much thought to teachers at all — teachers are simply collateral damage. The goal is money, and to that end there is a corporate takeover of the public school system in progress.
My current role is serving in the capacity of one the “clueless” observers mentioned in the comments. We are considered instructional and do not invade classrooms seeking to punish anyone. Now what site-based leadership does with the data trends collected is a different matter. It doesn’t help to attack colleagues who have no more power than you do in these times. You want to know what gives people the authority to enter your classroom constantly? The state legislators created Differentiated Accountability as law for FL schools. Your energy is better directed towards the legislature in convincing them to go in a different and more productive direction for us all.