EduShyster here describes Kevin
Huffman’s relentless campaign to demoralize Tennessee
teachers and make Tenessee the worst state to be a teacher. She
suggests that the time is soon coming when Huffman will be held
accountable. Not by the state board, which rubber stamps his bad
ideas even when they aren’t informed of the details. No, he will
face the accountability of angry parents, teachers, and other
citizens who have grown tired of his destructive tactics. That day
will come, rest assured. Even his membership in Jeb Bush’s Chiefs
for Change won’t save him from the wrath of
Tennessee’s Angry Moms</a, who created their own Facebook
page.
A site to discuss better education for all
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Diane, I think you should make a ranking of the worst states to be a teacher… people love rankings and it could be a moving ranking to highlight some of the horrible changes happening across the country. I think people would take notice.
I second this idea, although I’m happy for any enterprising, articulate educator to take on this project.
Every state needs a similar page on Feb.
Facebook not Feb. Stupid android.
As a TN educator, I don’t think we’ve ever faced such an arrogant, mean-spirited, power hungry, & tone deaf Commissioner of Education as Kevin Huffman. Children and teachers are suffering under his boot and his response to TN parents was to pass out bumper stickers that said ‘Ignore the Noise.’ Cruelty must be a qualifier for membership in Cheats for Change.
Kevin Huffman is hurting TN students & teachers. Help Momma Bears get him out of office. Please sign + share:
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-hurting-our-schools-remove-kevin-huffman-as-the-appointed-tn-commissioner-of-education
Hold Huffman accountable by filing open records requests for all federal and state corporate education contracts. Request his e-mails and those of his local cheerleaders. Follow the money by sharing the contracts and e-mails through social media. Create presentations and speak about Huffman’s destruction of schools to large and small audiences across the state. Create a stir related to votes and demand the money goes to classrooms, not corporate welfare nonsense that has ZERO value for education.
Credit needs to be given to the Tennessee moms.
I wish I could share your optimism that a grassroots groundswell will turn the tide against the privatization and corporate takeover of education in Tennessee. Unfortunately, Tennessee is the “perfect storm” for this risky experiment in greed against the children of the state. It goes beyond the culpability of the rubber stamp State Board of Education. Three organizations who should be the caretakers of reason and leaders of school improvement also share in the destruction of public schools here. Through their actions, or often inactions, they, too, should be held accountable at some point.
First, there are the local school superintendents. I sat in meetings and watched as the cool and calculating Huffman and his TFA State Department ran roughshod over superintendents with their permission. TOSS, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (really a weak arm of the State Department rather than a real professional organization) looked very much like the Polish resistance to Germany at the onset of WWII. Better described as the “Kick Dirt and Spit Club”, this organization’s main work revolves around organizing golf tournaments and turkey shoots, rather than seriously vetting educational reforms in any serious manner. Over all, superintendents simply have not spoken out as they should against this onslaught. Frankly, I am no better in that I might have done more myself.
Second, the Tennessee School Boards Association. This group’s leadership enjoys the thrill of hobnobbing with the powerful and elite of what passes for politics in this very red state. Since most School Boards are well meaning, but lack the knowledge and depth of analysis it takes to deal with reform, they follow the lead of TSBA, which is at best a paper tiger in the fight for public schools. A more vocal and stronger resistance is called for on this front.
Last, there is TEA, of course- the state teachers’ union. For as long as I can remember, this organization’s main goal is keep the membership numbers up and protect ,through lengthy and costly court battles, the small minority of teachers who represent malpractice. They set the public relations stage for public opinion that the kind of reform being placed upon public schools now is needed and desired.
This may seem harsh, but I believe this to be true. The victims, however, are the thousands of hard working educators and children who do their best each day. For their sake, I hope my pessimism is unfounded.
Pull your kids out of public school TODAY. Teachers walk out. In one week Kevin Huffman will be fired. We want Chris Barbic fired too. The kids and teachers come back when Common Core, Keving Huffman, Chris Barbic are GONE!!! It is the ONLY option at this point.
Huffman et al would like nothing better than a mass pull-out of public education. It would be just the excuse to close down the whole thing. Sort of like when companies don’t really want to throw holiday or summer parties anymore. They just put on a really lame one and then when no one shows up because it was so lame, they point to the lack of attendance as evidence of a lack of interest and cancel any future parties.
I’m in Kentucky, and while it’s unnerving to watch what’s going on in a neighboring state, I am relieved for two reasons:
1) Kentucky is beating Tennessee in education, by a considerable margin. See: http://kyedreport.com/ (two posts) — Hint: It’s Kentucky’s sustained investment (i.e. real reform) that’s doing the trick.
2) Tennessee has gone so hyper into corporate deform experimentation that it provides a great comparator. It’s a relief to show Kentucky’s real reforms beating the pants off what Tennessee is doing.
3) Bonus: It’s fantastic dark comedy. Too bad for Tennessee students and teachers, though.
You should be warned that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul visited Tennessee specifically to speak with Kevin Huffman & Sen. Lamar Alexander about our education system.
Believe me, you do NOT want Kentucky to do what TN is doing! I suggest you contact Sen. Rand Paul and tell him not to drink Huffman’s kool-aid! Tell him you do not want Charter Schools, Vouchers, Standardized testing for K-2 students, lower teacher salaries with no compensation for advanced degrees, unqualified teachers or temporary substitutes replacing tenured teachers in your state. Good luck!!!
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130728/NEWS02/307280096?fb_comment_id=fbc_147613152110569_154732_147718542100030
I’m already aware of this, and I’m also aware that Rand Paul is not particularly good at listening to reasoned disagreements with his hardened views. He is an extreme ideologue. As a U.S. Senator, there’s not much he can do to influence Kentucky educational policy anyway — that’s a state government function, and most of Kentucky’s elected leadership is comprised of Democrats. Kentucky is pursuing mostly alternative reforms, although at least Jefferson County Public Schools is sucking up wildly to Common Core. We’ll see how that works out.
Are parents and teachers (and teachers’ families) willing to vote for someone other than Gov. Haslam when if comes time for re-election because of Huffman? I am.
Yes Joe Nashville! While people beat the bushes to follow the money our governor refuses to release his tax returns. Because he knows it will show where to follow the money. I am ashamed I voted for him. No more votes from me. But, who will be TN education governor that will support local control and make a teaching job the most respected, committed, stable job in the state? Parents want teacher stability, trust, community, appropriate academic progress and local governance. They give us teacher turnover, TFA temps, policy changes with the wind, common core, fear of the test gap so advanced kids are boxed into grade-level standards and behind kids are used as a PR punching bags for failure. Top it off with legislative rumblings of removing elected school boards. And the Huffman/Haslam team wonders why parents are so ticked off? It is a mismanaged mess. All awhile we scrape for $ crumbs to even keep our schools clean. KY is looking pretty nice these days.