EduShyster volunteers to join the mighty and the very rich at Camp Philos, where our self-anointed thought leaders will figure out how to hasten the privatization of public schools and how to get rid of those expensive veteran teachers, while encouraging more young people to spend a year or two as “teachers” before finding their real career.
Is that a real Paypal button? If it is, I am donating to send our very own thought leader.
Wouldn’t it be funny if most of those who signed up were opposed to privatization and union-busting and teacher-bashing?
I am reminded of a long story or short novel by Joseph Conrad in which the protagonist is encouraged by the authorities to join a small band of anarchists who are planning an act of violence. He joins, blends in, and—spoiler alert!–belatedly discovers that all of them are double agents, like him.
If only that were true at Camp Philos, but alas, we know the agenda of these guys: They represent the Status Quo and the 1%. In Cuomo’s case, he represents Wall Street and the 3% of children in charters. He just brokered a state budget deal to cut the tax rate on banks and to shower money on privately managed charters, at the expense of the 97%.
Edushyster plus thousands of #whitesuburbanmoms from Long Island representing their Brilliant Opted-Out children should get on hundreds of buses and crash this Not-so-brilliant Cuomo profiteer meeting.
Million Moms March! Joining forces with millions of outraged caring folks.
Alert the Media!
Yes. A peaceful sit-in at the entranceway. Civil disobedience at its finest. Let them take protesters away in handcuffs. These thought leaders represent the 1%. OCCUPY CAMP PHILOS!
Million Moms March!! That would be awesome. I love it.
I will contribute, but I want my contribution earmarked for the gallons of bleach and boxes of Brillo pads she’s going to need to scrub off all of those GERMs.
Thought leaders? What a bunch of…you know what. How about UNthoughtful, greedy for money and perks leaders?
I’d be happy to donate. Just find out how best to pool our money..
Yes!
I was educated in the public school system many years ago, so I’m not Common Core certified, but I think the story you cite might have been “The Man Who Was Thursday” by C.K. Chesterton
LOL, funny, Paul!
I understand that there are drones that are the size of hummingbirds and that they come with audio and cameras. Maybe we could fly one inside the building and land it in a hidden location to be the fly on the wall that sees and hears all.
Seriously, could we donate to sending Edushyster? I’d be up for it. No April fools here.
Count me in.
I’ll hope for a moment, like when Jimmy Carter’s grandson caught Romney talking about the 47%.
I would love to go!!!
No joke, let’s send her! I’d go too. I can fit in with expensively groomed types.
Sounds like a good idea to. Send her!
I’m in.
Oh please, Mr. Cuomo, would you be my thought leader? This trying to think on my own is so HARD.
Did anyone else notice that every bit of this invitation to join the Thought Leaders, from the name of the event to the descriptions of the sessions to the graphic design of the web page, is as hackneyed, as cliched, almost, as are the Common Core State Standards in ELA?
The invitation looks to my eye very like an illustration from a 1950s cub scout manual.
Oh, the nostalgia! Leave the Beaver and Wally at home with the little woman and have your driver drop you off at the White Face Lodge, where Stepin Fetchit will show you to your room for a little Burma Shave before we get together for some Wonder Bread and baloney sandwiches and a little Father Knows Best time!
Back to the future, boys. Way, way, way back!
Feel the philos, folks!
I’m am beginning to think that cliches are the very livery of the Ed Deformer. This is not surprising from people who think that
that standardization and regimentation lead to creativity and innovation,
that testing kids to find out where to plop them down in some preprogrammed learning progression is personalization,
that we need the creative disruption of nationalized ed tech to replace all those messy human and humane transactions between teacher and learner,
that David Coleman is an educator,
that teaching is about extrinsic punishment and reward, and
that learning is checking off items on the bullet list, the national educational Powerpoint copyrighted by the good people at the Commoners’ Core Curriculum Commissariat and Ministry of Truth onbehalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
By gum, by golly, we’ll have great fun, off in the woods, thinking BIG thoughts about BIG DATA, with our White Face Friends at the White Face Lodge.
Yo ho, yo ho.
By all means, send EdSchyster, if she thinks she can stomach the Boy’s Life ambiance. But make sure that she packs lots of GERM repellant.
I’m sorry, but that invitation gives me the creeps, as I guess my note, above, suggests.
It may be three days but all the activities take place in less than 48 hours. Guess a lot of time to do some serious filosolying, eh!