Mark Naison is one of the founders of BAT, the Badass Teachers Association. He says that what is happening to public education today is nothing less than a coup d’état, a stealthy takeover of public education by elites who know little or nothing about education. Some do it for the power; some for greed; some for ideology. Whatever their reason, it is time to resist.
Naison writes:
“There Has Been an Education Coup D’Etat In the US- Time to Organize Resistance”
“When a country has suffered a Coup D’Etat, as Chile did in the 1970’s, or a foreign invasion, as France did during the start of World War II, it takes a while for the population to figure out how to resist. Some collaborate, some passively conform, some pretend compliance and grimly go about their business, some move into active resistance, even at the risk of their lives
“While it would be foolish to pretend that what has happened to education in the US in the last ten years has had the same life threatening consequences, it does have many of the elements of a Coup D’Etat. A well financed and highly motivated elite with little or no background in teaching or school administration has seized control of Education Policy in the US, excluding teachers and parents voices, and has imposed a grim test regimen on the nation’s public schools that has driven joy and creativity out of our classrooms and made teachers hate their jobs. The Common Core Standards, imposed with lightning speed across the country through bribery and intimidation is but the latest example of how School Reformers borrow the ethos and strategy of dictators to impose their policies. Teachers, parents, and students who have had no chance to discuss the standards, much less see them in operation before deciding whether to support them, are presented with a fate d’accompli and told they are undermining national progress if they dare to ask questions, and if they are teachers or principals, told that opposition can cost them their jobs
“Well, despite the intimidation, a resistance has emerged, composed of parent opt out groups, anti- testing and anti-Common Core Coalitions, and this group, the Badass Teachers Association. With Common Core now part of professional development for teachers in most school districts, it is time to help the resistance spread. Just letting teachers know there is a group like BATS which thinks current policies are crazy is an important step. We now have a one page document in the files that you can print out and distribute to colleagues.
“Please discretely hand this out to your colleagues and friends. Most will probably not want to join, but knowing there is a resistance of this size and militancy will give them courage and make them feel empowered to resist covertly, in their own classrooms. And who knows, over time, they may join us
“But the important thing is to spread the word. Let people know that 26,000 teachers across the country have said “enough is enough” to top down Education Reform and are determined to fight back.
“It’s not only our jobs that are at stake, it is our students and our children’s education, and the future of democracy in this country that are on the line.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“told they are undermining national progress if they dare to ask questions, and if they are teachers or principals, told that opposition can cost them their jobs”
Yes, and Fordham says “you teachers just screw it up” (Petrilli) and Checkers Finn says anyone who dares to ask questions is “an acolyte” or a “marriage wrecker.”
There are 3 inddpendent psychiatrists who noticed Regan was in advanced dementia before it was discovered he had alzheimer’s. I am wondering about Checkers Finn. But, yes the major impetus is greed and power (with others representing ideology and sill others who are taken in by the “hype” and the 5 colored brochures because it is “exciting” and “sexy” ). Thank you for this excellent article.
I looked for them and you can find the site through facebook or
here: http://www.badassteacher.org
More accurately, this is a “hostile takeover.” Coups are swift and sure. Bam, a new regime is in power. Hostile takeovers often take quite a bit of time with the contestants jockying for position. And it is a business term that the “business types” will recognize and respond to.
The phrase “Some do it for the power; some for greed; some for ideology. Whatever their reason, it is time to resist.” is spot on. It is very clear they aren’t doing it for our kids.
In The Atlantic article, The Schoolmaster, Sep.19 2012, by Dana Goldstein, the author states that David Colman refers to research by the ” Minnesota College Readiness Center’s Paul Carney, who found that almost a third of college students enrolled in his college’s remedial writing courses had actually earned above-average grades in high-school English. The gap was partly due to the different types of writing valued by high schools and colleges: while high-school teachers rewarded students for the organization and wording of their essays, college professors placed greater value on strong thesis statements backed by evidence from the curriculum. This mismatch of expectations helps explain why 20 percent of incoming freshmen at four-year colleges, and about half at community colleges, are assigned to non-credit-bearing remedial courses.”
David Coleman, one of the architects of the Common Core, and the President of the College Board, says he will reflect the Common Core standards in the SAT.
Could all of this really be about eliminating remediation at the college level?
NO!
Coleman used this research to get policy makers to buy into the common core standards. Isn’t the ideology of “college for all” driving the common core standards. In this utopia, is it unrealistic to expect that colleges would have to offer remedial courses.
I wish that I could fall behind BATS. I belonged to the site for about two weeks. A woman came on spouting some perhaps invented information about her successful charter school, and I was amazed at the reaction of the group. An absolute attack and then the thread was removed. I went on and asked about where it went and why we weren’t having the discussion. There was much that could have been said on the issue. Instead there was a tremendous amount of misinformation being shared by BATS members. There ARE public charters that are actually part of the public school systems in many states. Sweeping statements condemning all charters does not build anything better. This is the argument I tried to make – it’s called discussing the issue. I was nothing but courteous and professional and have now been blocked from the site. I was told that BATS is only for positive things about the public schools. Well, guess what – our schools should be looking for growth opportunities. All of them, because that’s what our kids deserve. I agree with every word Naison wrote here. I have been a teacher for 31 years, and I am an outstanding public school educator. This is not bragging, I know my value. My experience on that BATS site did not leave me with a good impression. The last thing I wrote there was a request for an admin to private message me so that I could ask some things about the group. Instead I was blocked. I am certain with a membership of 25,000 there are many who would not be happy knowing this was how things were done, perhaps not even Niason himself. This group does not represent the voice of public school teachers. My experience is that this group represented the voice of angry, worn out teachers who will not have the ability to make the change happen. I will continue my work with NEA and other organizations that will make the effort with their willingness to have the dialogues.
Cynthia, you stated the following above: “This group does not represent the voice of public school teachers. My experience is that this group represented the voice of angry, worn out teachers who will not have the ability to make the change happen.”
I agree with you 100%!
I had a very similar experience with the BAT folks. When I pointed out the folly of attacking the Common Core (and the misinformation that was sown on their Facebook page about the Common Core) I was lambasted, insulted, and accused of being a “plant.” Essentially, the BAT group started to behave like a cult. It was weird and kind of frightening that educators could behave in such a way. Like you said though, this group is hardly representative of the many truly professional educators out there.
I really don’t think that the BATs will affect any change at all. My experience with that group is that they complain and gripe a lot yet offer very little ideas for constructive actions that need to transpire in education if we are going to bring respect to the profession and educate our citizens more fairly.
Completely agree Jeremy!
Cynthia, you are mistaken: charters are not public schools, but private entities, privately controlled, that receive public money with minimal or no public oversight.
No matter what their backers continually say, and no matter the fig leaf language in state education law – in NYS, the charter law calls them “public” schools, while explicitly stating that they are privately controlled – they are not public schools.
They do not teach the same children as the public schools, do not adhere to the same labor standards as the public schools, and have immense support from the Overclass that is increasingly denied to public schools.
If they were, why would their supporters and marketers feel the need to continually refer to them, as you did, as “public charter schools?”
The alternative high school in my town is a charter school. The charter is held by the elected school board.
Michael, it is you who are mistaken. There are several charters within public school systems. This is what I am referring to as public charters. They are schools that receive autonomy with their district funding and create their own philosophy. This is true in the public schools district where I am a teacher and it is true in a number of schools districts within my state as well as several other states.
Cynthia, are the “public” charter schools you refer to overseen by the local elected school board, or are they controlled by private boards?
If the latter, then you have proved my point.
Michael, here is a link to a school district in the Denver, Colorado area. It is a public school district run by a locally elected school board. The link will show you a list of charters within this system – PART of this system. The district allows these schools funding autonomy – they must form a local board, or council,l if you feel better calling it that, of their own to make those decisions. They still answer to the district school board and they are part of the public school system. I think that many of you who foam at the mouth opposing this type of system are so enraged that you fail to listen to reason. There are some things happening in these schools that are positive and we should all be glad to see those options existing within our public school system. I want options for our kids. This is about the kids first and the teachers second.
http://www.jeffcopublicschools.org/schools/profiles/?school_id=238
Cynthia:
I had the same feeling visiting the BAD site – though I have to say the SDS like logo made me hyper-vigilant. I am afraid the tactics you experienced are a likely reflection of Prof. Niason’s world view.
In the article Prof. Niason asserts without evidence that:
Teachers, parents, and students who have had no chance to discuss the standards, much less see them in operation before deciding whether to support them, are presented with a fate d’accompli and told they are undermining national progress if they dare to ask questions, and if they are teachers or principals, told that opposition can cost them their jobs.
HistoricalIy, I doubt that teachers, parents and students get much of a chance to discuss the adoption of new textbooks in a school system. I would far prefer a more incremental and measured roll out of such a widespread series of changes, but I see no evidence that opposing voices cannot be raised. Certainly there are plenty of informed, loud and persuasive voices on this site.
Everything said is very true. The problem as I see it is that teachers are late to the game of protecting themselves and education. Many of us out here that are not teachers have been at this for a long time while teachers are asleep at the wheel. This is absolutely true here in L.A. UTLA is useless. Yet, it didn’t used to be as one of my best friends is Richard Arthur one of the founders of UTLA and for 7 years before UTLA the only person allowed to negotiate with LAUSD for the previous unions. They did not found UTLA for it to become the morphed cooperator with the billionaire destroyer sources as they are now. If teachers, parents, students and community organize the billionaires are finished as all they know is divide and conquer. Only organization will beat the billionaires. We have proven that in L.A. with Measure J which was a $90 billion tax until 2069. We beat that with only $15,000 and 3 weeks. Then they put up 10-12 bills to lower bond passages from 2/3 to 55% and the people forced the legislature to drop them all this year. Next, against all odds Zimmer was reelected by Jeneen Robinson giving her votes to Zimmer in the best interests of the district and citizens then Monica Ratliff is elected against all odds beating about $2 million with only $50,000 while she worked everyday and was driving long distances. Now LAUSD is the only large school district run by an elected board of education in the U.S. Now if only the union got a grip and their teachers who seem to be brain dead.
Let’s hope that BAT makes a difference as it is amazing that this many teachers signed up for this organization so fast. This shows that there is a lot of anger and frustration out there with their unions and so called leadership all the way to the national level as is usual in this corrupt country where people are bought so cheaply.
A hard critic, George, who echos excellent information in the search for truth and justice without frilly language but necessary wake up calls. Always a fair crusader who should be listened to and even when little hope seems to be visible he recognizes when it comes as a chance for victory as it is now in the form of the BATS.
It’s part of a larger neoliberal movement to take over ALL public functions for private gain.
It is also a worldwide movement despite the fact neoliberalism has been discredited and debunked.
“With Common Core now part of professional development for teachers. . . ”
Yep just got Common Cored all morning in our “professional development” (sic) meeting. So many lies and distortions by the presenter-the standards are internationally benchmarked, everyone should have the same standards blah blah blah bleh and up it came.. Good thing someone at my table had a book on Ozark Mountain ghosts and haunted houses that I read or els I would have gotten into trouble big time.
Cored with a stupid “reading triangle” activity. It’s a shame that mother nature called at that time and I excused myself to go use the “facilities”.
Where is Joe Isuzu when you need him? Let’s here it for mother nature. I’d opt for nausea and the nurse’s office. Our district is so hot for the core they bribed us to take core training for pay over the summer. They paid me to ingest the bovine droppings everyone else was forced to listen to on Monday. My principal wanted to know why my second graders were not yet writing their first diagnostic paragraphs yesterday. I enjoyed telling him that he had ordered them to spend time last year in the computer lab to learn to take the “smarter balanced ” tests. For this reason they had not been taught to write. Since few people carry a keyboard device with them everywhere they go, I don’t have any in my classroom, I will have to teach them spelling and handwriting before they can produce paragraphs. As he left, fuming mad, a lightning strike hit our computer lab internet dish, all the servers and computers were wiped out. I hope it is divine providence and a sign of more to come. Our principal, a full reform kool aid addict, is contemplating retirement. We can only hope.
correct here with hear, I do know the difference.
Ultimately they are supposed to be overseen, even though run by their private boards, by the authorizing agency whether local, county or state. They are state funded privately run organizations sort of like a joint powers authority (JPA). The problem is that there is no oversight or accountability. To see this in detail go read the DOE OIG study on the lack of accountability at any level on charter schools in Florida, Arizona and California. It is not only happening in these three states.
George:
If this is the OIG report you refer to http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/fy2012/a02l0002.pdf
its primary focus is on the managing of SEA and non-SEA s Grants by DOE’s Office for Innovation and Improvement and the authorizing bodies within the State Governments.
You are right that these organizations look like disasters with virtually no coherent approach for monitoring this funding. At the same time, this type and level of funding is very difficult to effectively manage. In the realm of things, the grants are tiny and the cost of the overhead to monitor them at the State level is out of proportion to the money at risk. I bet WestEd’s contract is pretty substantial.
All this said, the report says next to nothing about how well or poorly Charter Schools actually operate. The failure rate noted in the report, however, suggests that each State needs to have an easy and cost effective way of monitoring and auditing their performance.
I live and teach in Arizona. You are incorrect. There are a number of public charters – those are charter schools offered as a choice within the public school system. They have the same accountability as the rest of us in the public sector. They have to test the same tests, meet stated goals, receive grades as mandated by reform. I understand that there are many charters that are exactly as you describe. The FACT is there are some that are not and several that are doing a good job, so why aren’t we acknowledging that and looking to learn from it? I have been a public school teacher for 31 years and we are losing the battle here because we are digging in our heels and fighting the wrong fights.
Cynthia:
You are asking a good question and one that those opposed to any excessive emphasis on testing need to ask if they want to demonstrate that they are interested in changes that help all students learn and develop.
Here is a link to the state by state regulations for charter schools. There is no denying they are FAR less regulated than public schools. Maybe some of the debate needs to focus on whether or not all these regulations are actually accomplishing anything. http://www2.ed.gov/admins/comm/choice/regprivschl/regprivschl.pdf
I know for a fact they have a free ride here in California and in fact busted the top presenter of CDE at the November meeting after this expensive power point on the total wonderfulness of charter schools in California. When I got up to speak and started quoting from the report on my computer at the podium you could hear a pin drop. When I asked if they had the report and if they did not I could supply a copy they said they had it. When they did not respond to the false statements they were saying we agree with the lying and they did not expect us to have that report. Krazy TA I do a lot of reading as you obviously do. They could not have closed down that meeting fast enough after that. If you think charter schools are wonderful and do not cheat in general in large percentages you are taking that Jonestown Kool Aid. I can show vast amounts of documentation. We do not just work education. We work all fields including criminal justice and health. We have a comprehensive view of all fields working properly together not as just a stand alone.
George, the koolaid comment is not necessary. It is unfortunate that you felt the need to make it. At no point was I looking to make an argument on behalf of all charters. I am critical of many of the same things you are, but I will not condemn them all either. As I have repeatedly stated, I have dedicated a 31 year career to public school service. Almost all of those years in Title schools where strong teachers are needed the most. The fact for me is that the Badass Teacher group were unprofessional and poorly informed.
George:
What report are you referring to? If it is the OIG Report I am not surprised they were taken aback. It basically calls the California, Arizona and Florida Departments of Education incompetent in terms of managing a federal grants program. However, if it is the OIG Report, then it actually says little about the performance of individual Charter Schools either in terms of management or classroom performance.
I do not know if the Badass Teachers are for real with Fordham behind it and how professional they got so fast. However, it sure shows that there are a lot of very mad teachers out there with what is going on. Kool Aid is proper. Most of you are isolated in the education sphere and do not have broad experience in the scams of the broader world. When you have done this as long as I have in many fields you know what you see as in my friends grandfathers saying he taught him “I hear real good, but I see a whole lot better.” I always call it as it is no matter what people think. Their mild manners responses do nothing to them. As I say to others “When you have the wins come and talk to me about your approach. I tried that for a long time and it did not work. They are not rational and you cannot talk to them anymore. They must be beat over the head with a sledgehammer. Unfortunately this is true. I have also seen that almost no one is doing the financial work necessary to defeat them since this is all about stealing money and power which are an equation to them. Read the “Art of War” as what do you think this is and that is the manual they use. You cannot play the rules of tiddly winks when they are playing thermonuclear warfare with MIRV warheads and accurate GPS and you are using an old Chinese compass and are lost in space. This is why they are winning. They are not that smart or slick. They just have a lot of money and control the media since Bill Clinton sold us out with the 1996 Telecommunications Act which wiped out a free press. I suggest you start watching Al Jazeera and/or Russia Today if you want real news and reading the foreign press as ours is so corrupted.
Educators had better wake up real soon to the game being played or you are all finished and TFA wins and the world loses because you were all asleep in general. I am not talking about those who comment and read this blog and that is a very small percentage of the total. They are slowly wiping out teaching as a real profession. It is not too late. In fact, now is the time to attack and that is just what we are doing is cranking up the heat. Those that want to join, fine. Those that don’t stay home and out of the way or you will get run over also. We don’t care who you are if you are not with saving our youth and society, get in the way and you will also get caught up in the storm coming.
One other thing. If you properly compare charters and I mean using the correction factor to allow for all of their priviledges and such that they get they do worse on average than regular public schools and I will run that proof anytime you want to try it. Look at the Credo Study from Stanford then look at the latest DOE OIG study on the total lack of accountability of charter schools and then tell me they do good. Have fun with that one. It is time for people to do some real analysis and stop the ideology. Charters have had over 20 years and in general are a waste of money and the effort should be put where it should have been in the first place and that is holding regular public schools accountable and if caught with their hands in the cookie jar put in jail as they should be for breaking the child abuse laws in California as we have them with and no one will do anything even though blatantly breaking the law. Why create a ‘More Unaccountable system”, take away parents rights and allow them to steal the money and use the tax code for enrichment at our expense instead of using that limited finite money for educational purposes instead of enrichment. Look at the salaries those people are making and then using slave labor ignorant TFA for the production, education.
George:
You are overstating what is in the DOE OIG report. It addresses the non-existent program and financial management practices at the Federal and State level. Any commentary on Charter School performance is indirect at best. Note – I am not saying anything about the performance or non-performance of Charter Schools only that the OIG report does not address it. Do you agree?
Yeah, Education is in trouble – from every angle. Including those who think they are protecting it most. George, I don’t know who you are, what you do, or what your qualifications are – but your responses shoot off in multiple directions and all you do is ask me to believe you. I don’t. I don’t believe in the Badass group either.
Here’s my truth. I am to the very core of my existence, a teacher. I work at Title I public schools because I know the need is greatest in schools where families are struggling the most. I am an outstanding teacher – I know my value. Many of us have been calling out these dangers for years now – we saw them coming for the public schools. We also saw the public schools being dismantled from within by careless laws like NCLB and RTTT. We watched as public schools began to sell themselves out. The enemy is not just the charter schools and private corporations out there more than willing to make a buck off the fear of the people – a fear they created and will profit from. The enemy has slowly come to be the very districts we work in who have agreed to eliminate tenure, tie teacher evaluations to test scores, and hold teachers accountable for factors outside our control. It is teachers who refuse to have the dialogue with those they have been told not to speak with and show zero tolerance for. This isolation we have created from so many aspects is all that is needed to destroy public education.
I wish I could find others who want to build this right – including options and choices for students and families – within a public system that provides equal opportunity for all kids. The fact that Badass shot me down for asking the questions and asking for dialogue shows me a group who will not be the ones to make the difference we need. They might be heard of loudly for awhile, but they will not last long. That is not a bad thing.
Bernie, you have to put it all together. It is not just that report. I have been at this for 25 years doing massive investigation into fraud. I know school budgets. How often have you seen me five information on school budgets on other schools like Chicago and Philadelphia? No one else seems to do this. I know charter schools inside out and how it happened and who did it. They are a joke from the word go. The DOE OIG report is a total condemnation of charter schools and the total lack of oversight and accountability if you read plain English. My spreadsheets put fear into the crooks and politicians. I am the only person to ever have LAUSD audited by the State of California for falsely charging teachers with child abuse for whistle blowing. No teacher, no union only this citizen did this for teachers and it is now coming back to bite them you know where. Brian Claypool, the Miramonte lawyer, just filed a lawsuit against the last 5 superintendents of LAUSD for allowing child abuse. Go read Calif. Penal Codes 11164-11173.4 and you will see that a lot of administrator can be put into jail and lose their jobs over this. If you know about Schiff-Bustamente, that is my work by discovering that for 10 years LAUSD budgeted and did not spend $250,000,000/year for a total of $2.5 billion. Teachers complained for years so I took a look and that is what I found. Why didn’t one teacher or a union do this or the false charges or up to today know a thing about the budget? Not my income, it’s theirs. I do not know what is behind Bad Ass Teachers. It comes from Fordham, that is a question. It grew super fast. It got real professional extremely fast. One thing for sure is that there are a lot of mad and angry teachers out there for it to grow that fast. If they are not listening to people then there is a real problem. That is why I want to put up a complete total information website for teachers, students, parents and community with full information and comment areas. It does not exist now. An informed public is the end of the billionaires party. I have found that many on the outside know more about education than those in it. Most in the education business have blinders on and know nothing else which means they do not know much. Education is not a stand alone thing. It is a PART of the community, not the community.
No teacher, no union, only this citizen…
Many on the outside know more about education than those in it…
Most in the education business have blinders on and know nothing else…
You are a complete fraud.