If you are following the saga of Dr. Camika Royal, you will remember that Gary Rubinstein posted a video of her addressing the Philadelphia summer institute of TFA, some 700 young people who will work in the Philadelphia public schools (which is laying off teachers).
Gary sent the video to me, and I wrote a post, but before I could put it online, the video mysteriously disappeared. There was some pushback, as both Gary and I get an email from someone warning us that Camika was not going to be used by “the anti-reform movement” and that she was a loyal servant of the reform movement.
Yesterday evening, I got a tweet from Camika, addressed to both me and Gary, with a new statement by Camika published on Huffington Post and including a transcript of her speech. I was mentally cheering. I posted how pleased I was and how impressed I was by her courage.
Now apparently the video is back up again. I don’t know who took it down and I don’t know who put it back.
Here is a comment that includes the video.
Some people think that TFA acts like a cult. It programs people and it expects everyone to follow the party line or be ostracized.
My advice to TFA is this: Let Camika be Camika. She’s smart, she’s articulate, she thinks for herself. Don’t muzzle her. Hear her.
| Good morning, Diane ~Every day when I open my email, I see your new blogs and a daily email from Ken Derstine, Save Our Schools Information Coordinator in Pennsylvania, He, like many of us work tirelessly and yes, I am sure the hope by the reformies is that we will ALL become reform weary, like Camika Royal talked about in her speech.Ken’s “Pennsylvania Education Crisis Updates” can be read about DAILY on his blog: Pennsylvania SOS [Save Our Schools] on this link:http://www.pa-sos.org/ . Ken does a great job keeping this updated and provides readers a model we can all follow.
He and Helen Gym, Parents United PA are dedicated to saving public schools, along with Philly Acts. The students in PA are very organized as well. They are folks to follow on Twitter: @KenDerstine @ParentsUnitedPA @PhillyActs Now, back to the topic, Camika Royal. We’re not going to play into the reformy’s hands. We’re just getting this party started and like Camika, we’re going to speak out. And when Camika was speaking out, her revolution was being televised. When I opened Ken’s email this morning, there she was on You Tube. I thought to myself, “Wait, that video was taken down! It probably won’t work. Well, give it a try. What can be hurt?” Well, low and behold: “It works!” In this modern world, “the revolution will be televised.” Here is Camika saying every word we needed to hear — in Pennsylvania where the reformies are trying to kill public education and Camika stands up and says NO! Thanks, Diane. I thought your readers would like to hear Camika’s outstanding speech! |
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I don’t think that Teach For America was unaware of her feelings regarding the reform movement before they asked her to speak. Why do you think that TFA asked her to speak at their Institute if they were aware of this? Also are her remarks don’t necessarily say “NO!” to reform; rather, they reinforce an attitude of respect and humility that all teachers should take with them into their schools and classrooms.
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In the HuffPo piece, Camika says that she didn’t clear her speech, so I assume it was a surprise to its sponsors. And if TFA liked her speech, why was her video taken down? And why did Gary and I get emails saying that she didn’t say what we thought she said. Read the speech. Listen to it. Camika is thinking for herself, not just spouting the usual babble about making history and changing the “trajectory.” She knows the work is hard, she knows that Philly has some good teachers, and she definitely does not approve of the plan to turn a huge number of public schools over to the charter chains. That’s bold!
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Probably because she herself is a product of the public school system in Philadelphia and she knows firsthand how dedicated teachers are and she doesn’t want to see them disrespected.
Did anybody answer the question about why they are hiring TFA while teachers are being laid off?
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I have not heard an answer to that question. Philadelphia, when last I checked, was laying off almost 300 teachers. TFA has 700 corps members who attended the summer institute. Don’t know if they are all headed for Philadelphia schools.
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I can’t speak too deeply about Teach for America’s recruitment/placement process, but I do know that many of the placements are based on what is available. The 2011 corps was placed almost entirely in charters due to the layoffs. They recruit specifically for high need subjects like math, science, and special education.
The 700 corps members at the summer institute includes more than one region. In the past, it included Baltimore, DC, Camden, Delaware, and Philadelphia. This year, I believe it includes two more regions- one of which is Detroit (a very high needs area) and Massachusetts.
The recruitment/placement team also responds to the climate of Philadelphia as best it can. We all know how unpredictable the budget and the district can be; in the past year, TFA backed off its recruitment towards the end of the year as a response to the layoffs.
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The reason why Dr. Royal’s speech was blocked on YouTube was because she made it private after she feared her first posting of the speech was being misused by some saying it was “anti-education reform”. She made it public once again after her speech was published on Huffington Post. The article explaining this is here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/camika-royal-phd/teach-for-america_b_1669121.html
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hmmm. That explains everything. When it was first posted, she feared it “was being misused” by those who are “anti-education reform.” But now it is okay for those anti-reformers to misuse that speech? By anti-reform, you mean the parents of Philadelphia? Or those who want to preserve public education?
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I would hope Dr. Royal means by not wanting to be seen as “anti-education reform” that she does not support the status quo. We must be clear that in defending public schools we do not support the conditions in many urban schools.
The difference between us and the deformers, however, is that we see this as a political question, not the result of “bad teachers” who suddenly decided to stop teaching. The crisis in urban education nationally is because politicians have for decades inequitably underfunded school districts that have large numbers of low income families. This is partly because education funding depends heavily on property taxes, which means local funding for wealthy school districts is greater, but also because state funding is inequitably distributed due to the interests of the corporate and financial leaders.
Dr. Royal’s speech indicates that, based on her experience in Philadelphia public schools, she does not believe the problem is “bad teachers”. She clearly states her lack of support for the privitization agenda in Philadelphia. Time will tell if see takes this position to its logical conclusion and becomes an outspoken advocate for full funding for public education and the right of ALL students to a quality education.
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