In response to a post asking why politicians are scapegoating teachers, I received this inspiring comment from a teacher in Louisiana:
| Teacher bashing is an integral part of the reform movement. It’s almost as if these republican governors were coached or told that this was the plan. Here in Louisiana it was as if the teacher bashing began almost as soon as Jindal was elected and made education reform his focus. Teachers are the only people in the school beurocracies that have a direct contact and influence on the students. Why disenfranchise this group? Why tear them down instead of build them up? I’m no businessman, but if your employees are constantly looking over their shoulder, in constant fear, it can not help productivity. Even if these reformers are correct that schools should be run as businesses, well, this is a terrible way to run a business.As an aside, I find it telling that he decided to ruin public education during his final term in office and just in time to position himself as a possible VP.It’s tough, I know, but we’ve got to keep our chins up, remain proud, and focus. Ignore the “adults” and focus on the kids. They still love and respect us. They are great judges of character. I’m not saying be silent or not to concern ourselves with these outside influences that effect us, but when I close the door to my classroom, I am in my element. It’s still where I belong. It’s my happy place. Teacher bashes throw out terms like lazy, entitled, union thuggery, but all that gets drowned out in my noisy classroom (yes, my class is noisy, learning is not silent). I still can’t wait for the school year to start. No, I’m not a wide eyed optimist, I’m not a green teacher (10th year of service), I love my job, bust my tail doing it and dare anyone that knows me or sees me teach or had me as a student tell me I’m lazy or entitled. Those that say those things just don’t know. They’ve obviously never tried to teach. Their comments prove their ignorance, not my incompetence.
Ms. Ravitch, thank you for fighting for the children. To those that are ignorant it may seem as though you are fighting for teachers, and yes that may have truth to it, but I sense that you really want what’s best for children. What is best for the teachers often goes hand in hand with what’s best for the student. I believe this is where unions and teacher advocates dropped the ball. Here in Louisiana, teacher groups complained about the loss of tenure and how it effects teachers, but no one said how it effects students. Pick nearly any issue and it was us against them with little to no mention on the effects it has on kids. |
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Teacher bashing come from 3 primary places – billionaires, politicians, and parents.
The billionaires do it because they want to destroy public ed in order to implement their own private money-making charters and virtual schools.
The politicians do it for a couple of reasons, the first because the politicians own them and influence them to participate. Also, politicians bash teachers and teacher unions because it wins them votes.
Lastly, which is among the hardest to swallow, parents have participated in teacher bashing because they are bitter. Many had nice padded salaries, great insurance, and retirement programs. Now they are unemployed, or employed, but with a salary that is embarrassing compared to their previous one.
Then you can also add ignorant teachers that either want to kiss somebody’s butt or simply have no clue – especially the younger crowd. I had a teacher tell me recently that she doesn’t think teachers should be tenured. I about fell off my chair. Of course this lady is VERY well known in the county, and although she has no aspirations of joining the “management” ranks, at least that I know of, she would be the type to side with the billionaires hoping for some left over scraps.
Your last paragraph shares my sentiment. I just want to shake those teachers who don’t want to listen, read or even enter into a conversation about their own profession or themselves. Apathy among our peers is still hurting what many of us are fighting for.
I have recommended this blog to many and I am always amazed at how many “professional” teachers tell me they are not interested in politics, they just teach and don’t worry about it!
I wonder if they will notice when they lose their job because of their students’ test scores, or their pension is cut or class size doubles
Diane Ravitch
I echo the sentiments here on teacher apathy toward what many view as “politics” in education. Due to the public’s stake in this system, education is political whether teachers want to accept that or not.
Many of my own teaching colleagues here in NJ refuse to even read up on the politics affecting the schools. In a state with so much legislative action affecting education, we simply cannot afford to ignore politics.
I recently accepted a job in my local association to provide legislative information to our members. Part of my duties include researching bill proposals, summarizing positions of the sponsors, and keeping members up to date on amendments to the proposals. Members are encouraged to contact our legislators and get involved in the discussions. They are also sent information regarding all voting and registration deadlines. All of the information that is disseminated is available to the public, but my job is to put it in a nice neat package for them.
Yet many simply do not want to get involved because they either are “too busy” or they feel it means they are “getting political.” It’s a travesty that they do not educate themselves on the issues–if they would, they would be active participants in the political discourse that affects our schools.
Good Morning — I can’t seem to tear myself away from this blog. I am an elementary schh principal. I thoroughly agree that teachers do not reach their stride until their seventh or eighth year as teachers. Teaching is both an Art and a Science. Classroom management skills improve with experience. The children assigned to teachers change each year. They are not little robots. They each come to school with a different, unique set of background experience. Children who live in low income housing come to school with a totally different skill set than children from affluent families. Let’s be real here. I am concerned that no one seems to mention that the majority of teachers in New York State ( and I will research other states as well in this regard) are women. Women tend to be too trusting. I submit that what is happening in regards to this movement of supposed school reform is also a form of DISCRIMINATION. Let’s remember ladies that we VOTE and have a VOICE. Let’s start exercising those values and UNITE in an effort to be HEARD.
Marge
Diane
I love it when readers say they have become addicted to the blog! I’m addicted too. It’s the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night–reading and writing.
Diane
Yes, fortunately I spend too much time on your blog! Thanks for doing it!
Diane, I have been a fan of yours ever since I read “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.”
Thanks for making this blog available. I am absolutely addicted, as well. I’m a week behind, but I swear I will catch up. 🙂
This is the viewpoint I’ve come around to, as well. Teachers would not now be the scapegoat for all society’s ills if teaching weren’t a female-dominated profession.
I’d like to add a comment to the above missive. As a 20-year veteran teacher I often say, “We’re the only ones left in the village” as a way of explaining that it often feels that those of us working in the school building are the only ones who care about what happens to the children in our charge.
I will also add something else I often say, that “elementary teachers will keep their heads down and work until they drop dead.” This is in response to the ever-increasing demands that are made on us. Most elementary teachers are women and we just keep going along without looking up to say, “Hey, wait a minute. This isn’t right.” We are too busy taking care of society’s business.
Yes, elementary teachers need to speak up in defense of their profession. I cannot understand why in the world there has not been more push back from them in terms of the new Common Core Standards being shoved down their throats -specifically Coleman’s fiat that no more than 50% of reading be fiction. What does he know about what is developmentally appropriate for young readers? Let the experts – the TEACHERS – decide how much fiction children should be reading!
Hi Diane, as an educator in Australia I follow your blog and educational happenings in the U.S. With some interests. As you know governments of all levels in this country are rapidly pursuing similar policies of school autonomy and decentralization that are at such extremes inthe u.s. right now.
I have a question about one aspect of school management in the U.S. the 2009 Pisa study identified that students in school systems the allowed schools to set teacher salary generally fared worse, with Sweden being one stand out example with 67% of students taught in schools that set teacher salaries. However the U.S., despite being ranked comparatively poorly compared to Sweeden, had approx. 75% of students taught by teachers whose salary was set by government with littleto no local input.
The question is, can you provide a more accurate description of how teacher salaries are managed by the states over there? It’s a big talking point about future policies over here, but little concrete information has redistributed as yet.
This Louisiana teacher has it EXACTLY right. I try to block out the negative static when I enter my classroom because that is my happy place, too. Sadly, it’s getting harder and harder to do.
YES! I feel the same way as this teacher (I’m entering my 7th year this fall). I feel an obligation to pay attention to the political landscape and use my voice, but I sometimes just have to shut the door and be with my 9th graders. Because they are awesome, and they do understand how hard I work for them. When I have broken down for them the amount of time it takes me to respond to their essays, I often have a student tell me to take the weekend off because I probably need it. This teacher is so right when she says that our kids are the best judges of character. It’s sad that we are pulled in directions away from helping them become who they are.
My students deserve better. They deserve a teacher who cares about them and will put in the long hours needed to give them a fighting chance. They deserve a teacher who will never give up on them even when most others have. They deserve a teacher who knows that test scores will never define their worth.
They also deserve a teacher who is not in constant fear of firing. They deserve a teacher who can close the door and know that no one is standing there checking to see that all the students are “actively engaged” and that the instruction is “on model.” I applaud the push for teacher evaluation as a tool for improving practice. I have yet to see it used as anything other than an instrument of administrative control. Good evaluations are passed out like candy; bad ones seldom are intended as other than a suggestions to resign or retire if you are tenured.
My research leads me to believe that Race To the Top has charged the political ELITES into action REGARDLESS of their party affiliation. Democrats and Republicans have bought into teacher bashing. The teachers’ unions in New York State have a long history of financially supporting the democratic party. Governor Cuomo’s presidential aspirations have blinded him. Instead of looking to lay off teachers why isn’t he investigating and disclosing the budget of the New York State Education Department. What we need is transparency. We need transparency with all New York State Education contracts. How much of NYS taxpayer money is leaving the state and the country. Pearson Publishing is an International Publishing Company. How much did they spend on lobbying in an effort to get NYS to accept their contract for testing? Who in the State Education Department { names please— insider trading??} benefited from trips to other countries paid for by Pearson, in an effort to influence acceptance of their contract?? How long does Pearson’s contract last — 3 years; 4 years; 5 years?? How much are school districts paying to purchase Pearson materials– workbooks, text books ?? How many schools in NYS feel compelled to use these products?? Are people aware that the software program approved and licensed by the NYS Ed Department for teacher evaluations are affiliated with Pearson and Bill Gates Microsoft??? Of course the testing is going to show an achievement gap. The rich creators of Pearson and Microsoft will get richer. The investors of Pearson are going to get richer. Follow the money trail as it leaves New York State. What countries are getting rich on the backs of American Children? Exactly WHO are all of the players in this game of MONOPOLY??
You may find it interesting to follow the link below to an editorial that I wrote to the Buffalo News.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/from-our-readers/another-voice/article716925.ece
Cowgirl
This is really good. You go to one of the problems in education and fully explain it.
Testing is not a bad word, but it’s HOW we test that’s become a real problem.
If you simply speak about testing, parents will have no idea why that is bad. However in your letter, you really explain why it has become a problem.
The solution isn’t to stop testing (that needs to be emphasized) but in the past, we tested differently.
Some of these assessments are dumbed down and do not test what parents think they are testing. (true academic knowledge)
On our state assessment, children can use calculators on the math standardized test. That would have been considered cheating when I attended school.
This is the teacher I would want teaching my 5 year old. I can tell more about her as a teacher in her short writing than a computer full of test scores could ever provide. If she/he was here in Wisconsin I’d have my kid in her class….that is if Scott Walker would let her….
So why on earth are some of the teachers playing into all of this??
This is what angers parents. This is why I can’t get parents to look past the unions and teachers when they do this: http://michellemalkin.com/2012/07/12/did-your-kids-teacher-attend-the-socialists-scream-fest-in-chicago/
There are people on the “right” and the “left” who truly want academic excellence in our schools. We want our kids in the local community school. We want to jump behind our beloved teachers and support our school system.
Then we see a video like that and parents get angry.
When we see the union membership put politics above academic quality, how on earth do you expect to win this game?
This is about P.R. and winning over the public. Getting the public behind you and to support you in the classroom.
The first problem was the first couple of sentences. Republicans? Excuse me but some may be dumb enough to follow the Obama lead on all of this, but this is HARDLY a partisan issue anymore.
You have BOTH sides of the political fence attacking teachers right now.
Instead of playing into the political games, go back to the drawing board. Go back to what makes public education work and that’s QUALITY. Stop following the Progressive educators and their fads and go back to the academic basics.
Diane, you rejected the P21 fads and showed others that you are committed to quality academic content. When teachers and administrators do the same, only then will you stop the attacks on teachers, and find the public willing to jump behind supporting public education.
If it’s going to be about political action, union power, social engineering, all I can say is, expect more competition. Parents expect better and I know there are good dedicated teachers in the classroom who are the ones under attack right now. My hope is that instead of continuing to watch them become the victims in all of this, you will go back to the basics of a quality education and start fighting for that.
What a cheap shot tactic the title of your referenced MMalkin’s blog is.
You stated “you will go back to the basics of a quality education”. Can you please tell us what you believe to be the “basics of a quality education” are.
Thanks!
MOMwithAbrain, that video is your representation of teachers unions? I would think that you have heard of the term “propaganda.”
That “shock” video did not represent me or anything my union stands for, but it’s apparent that you think you know more about what union members do than I do. Or maybe you really do know that these words and actions do not represent all unions, but you are so clever to use it as “proof” of how bad unions are so that those without brains might believe you.
In either case, there is a huge credibility issue when one uses something with no context to color the actions of many. Understanding the nuances of context is part of this quality education for which you are hoping.
I implore you to do some actual research about teachers unions before making statements based on rhetoric.
LG the NEA just had their convention and it was similar to a Obama rally.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2012/07/nea_ra_2012_its_all_about_obam.html
Right off the bat you alienate 40% of Americans who would never vote for Obama. Then you alienate possibly 20% more Independents who may not be supporting him.
This is a PUBLIC RELATIONS disaster for teachers. Do you not see that?
Do you want to help teachers or not?
Take a NEUtrAL stance for goodness sake. Then you do not alienate half of the parents out there who want to support teachers.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I welcome a debate!
It’s easy to confuse centrism in politics with neutrality. Neutrality often means there is no real opinion. Centrists indeed have opinions that often do not wholly follow one platform or another—a great many centrist voters are registered Independent, although there are plenty centrists who are affiliated with either of the two major parties. Centrists do straddle the lines on either side depending on the issues.
I wish unions could take a seemingly centric stance—I really do, and I feel that your heart is in the right place if that is your belief system. Personally, I’ve been accused of being a liberal AND a conservative depending on the perspective of the accuser. That is often quite amusing to me since I consider myself more of a centrist than anything else. It’s definitely a more representative ideology. However, ideology alone does not move mountains—actions do. The problems of our political system are not so simplistic as to champion neutrality. There are many grey areas here, but an obvious stance is powerful in its own right. Simple neutrality does nothing for the formation and reformation of the publics (actions that speak to the goal of societies in general).
The way endorsements work on the local level is this:
Unions give each candidate a set of questions, and candidates respond. Based on these answers, local unions endorse the people whose belief systems most line up with the union in question on matters of that particular profession. In the teaching profession, unions endorse those individuals whose platforms are pro-public education.
Important note: These matters are not ONLY about “what’s in it for teachers union members” as you might have been led to believe. These matters encompass the ways schools are run and funded, and the teachers unions feel they need to be strong advocates on these topics. Without question, union rights are a big part of what fuels an endorsement because union ideology operates under the belief that a dedicated union staff is good for the schools. That ideology drives the endorsement actions.
The people who complain about unions often are those who feel that unions have too much power, but that can be taken as an extremist view. Here’s why: Unions are only ONE SIDE of a contract. Extremists only see ONE side as the entirety of the contract when there are actually two sides negotiating within the contract. Anti-union thinkers often do not acknowledge that there is always a compromise by unions since it is much easier to see union contracts as one-sided when you are politically “for” the other side. This is why rhetoric—like the video you posted—can be dangerous. Rhetoric is one-sided because it is often taken out-of-context from the entire situation and used as representative of it.
Now in regard to endorsements of one party over another:
Historically there has been one political party that, more often than not, has made it its mission to disband all unions for at least the last 30 years. In most recent times, one party has become notoriously involved with a specific anti-union mind-set. I’m sure you are most aware of ALEC, and if not, you need to be.
Fortunately, not all politicians affiliated with that one party follow along party lines, just as not all politicians affiliated with the other party are public education-friendly. There are enemies on both sides of the aisle. However, it is no secret that the vast majority of anti-public platforms can be found on one side more so than the other. This is how politics is—unions understand this and unfortunately, they must “eat to live,” as it were. Unions tend to feel that public education will be eliminated at the hands of one party despite what a few in the minority of that party might believe. It is that minority that has very little voice here, and unfortunately is “guilty by association.”
Sadly, national endorsements can be summed up quite simply despite the complexities of each candidate’s platform. Obama has publicly offered a supportive stance on issues regarding education and the protection of union members’ rights. If he received an endorsement from the national unions, that is why.
Romney has publicly sided with union-bashers such as Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal. Romney has shown support for using public money for private interests a view that goes against the principles of all public systems including public education. As a result, he is viewed as an anti-public education candidate—therefore, no endorsement.
Obama has ideologically been the better choice despite the criticism of RttT—well-founded criticism, but not across-the-board criticism. I think in many cases, teachers unions are choosing the lesser of two evils. I personally feel that this position is unfortunate since there should be something other than two evils from which to choose, but public education IS political by its very nature of existing for the politika, i.e. the citizenry.
There is no “across-the-board” Democratic Party endorsement, despite what people who are outside of the union might think. That is a fallacy.
Not everyone is going to be the perfect candidate. I think if we view one candidate on only ONE issue, we are destined to be on the wrong side of history. Obama has made it clear that he wants to serve the citizenry on many fronts. He has the endorsement because of this stance despite his forays into competition for the schools. I think national unions feel they could work with this man over the other candidate.
Again, not all in one party are endorsed at the exclusion of those in another. In NJ, we have had a Republican congressional senator for many years who has been endorsed by the NJEA for several campaigns in a row due to his humanitarian efforts, but a person couldn’t possibly know that unless that person was a member of that union.
I suppose that it’s much, much easier to lump everyone in the same narrow view than to actually learn about “who” really stands for “what” on the issues, just as it’s much, much easier to lump all union ideologies together using a video out-of-context. Both practices have little merit.
cavalierkingcharlesspaniels:
I am addicted to this blog also. Ever since “The Death and Life of the Great American School System” I have been spending lots of time on Diane’s ED Week blog and this one. This one is great because it is more personal, and a daily shot in the arm.
I wasn’t a “blogger” when you wrote your editorial in the Buffalo News, but I read the article …and loved it! I wish I had responded then.
You were a fantastic teacher when I worked with you, and I know you are a wonderful principal . (I have children,grand children, and” greats” in the W.S. system.) Thank you for sticking up for teachers and sanity in our schools.
If you need help “organizing” so we can be heard, I’m “in”!
A retired “cowgirl”…
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