“Connecticut Post” Endorses Pro-Public Education Slate in Bridgeport

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1. Kenneth Teitelbaum says:

   September 9, 2013 at 9:25 am

   In case some of your readers might find this op-ed of interest to them:

   http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20130906/ARTICLES/130909797/-1/opinion?Title=Kenneth-Teitelbaum-Teaching-has-its-own-rewards

   – Ken

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2. gailj2 says:

   September 9, 2013 at 10:37 am

   As a Bridgeport voter who will support the independent Board of Ed candidates tomorrow in our primary, I thank Ed Network and Diane for spreading the word that our local daily newspaper endorsed independent thinking as well. Sadly the City’s powers that be have bought into the mantra of Charter schools, for profit as well as publicly funded charters as a solution. This solution as Diane points out tends to re-segregate public education and relies on proof of better results by expelling students who do not “obey” or who prove to be slow learners, perhaps because they are not English speakers. This is a Democratic Party primary. Yes in CT Democrats in power have bought into corporate reform ideas because that is where their re-election dollars are easier to raise in big chunks. Also self-dealing is afoot. As every public decision for Charters results in tax dollars shifting to favored vendors. No wonder investment execs back certain BOE candidates who will vote “right” despite what is best for students.

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3. Linda says:

   September 9, 2013 at 12:23 pm

   From the Pelto blog, posted by jrp1900:

   It’s all very familiar. According to the humble Mr. Boas, the teachers’ union has “handpicked” Democrat challengers “who will not serve the best interests of the children and families of Bridgeport.” Of course, they won’t! As we all know, teachers are parasites: they are all too happy to live high on the hog, with their generous salaries and benefits, while enjoying great vacation time and showing no real commitment to the learning of their students. Because they have a great thing going, teachers band together into a mafia-like union, and they do their utmost to protect their own interest, while completely abandoning children to “low expectations” and “failure.” Now comes Mr. Boas with his Orwellian outfit “Citizens for Students” to save the poor little mites in terrible public schools from the bad old public school teachers.

   This stupid, deceitful and monstrous narrative would be almost laughable if it is wasn’t so effective. The corporate reformers understand that many parents in impoverished communities are desperate for some sort of hopeful change. And it seems to be a sad fact of human nature that you can manipulate desperate people if you get them to “buy into” the notion that the cause of their troubles is an easily identifiable “enemy.” In other words, by focusing on the evil teachers the corporate reformers are making use of the classic strategy of the scapegoat. As is amply demonstrated in history, stigmatizing a scapegoat is often a prelude to a reign of atrocity. I hope there are enough people in this country who understand that public school teachers are NOT the enemy. Otherwise there will be plenty of blood on the floor, as corporate reformers are bent on reducing teachers from esteemed professionals to mere “factory operatives,” who can be “flexibly” managed as the administration sees fit.

   Common sense tells us that most people go into teaching because they have a commitment to educating children. In many places, teachers suffer poor pay, difficult work conditions and stressful “assessments” and “evaluations,” and yet they remain in the profession, doing the best they can. How, then, does the teacher become the enemy? Corporate reformers like Mr. Boas often know nothing of children and they have no interest in the SOCIAL LIVES of poor people in cities like Bridgeport. Mr. Boas is not an activist for health-care, for affordable housing, for drug treatment centers, for family support programs, for effective monitoring of police conduct in minority communities, for job training and job opportunity programs, for enforcement of EPA regulations in poor neighborhoods, for wider recreational services and so on. No, Mr. Boas advocates the privatization of public schools in poor communities and he is allied, not with ordinary people in the community, but with the masters of Wall Street.

   Be aware that when a powerful privatizer starts shedding tears over poor children, you are in the presence of a weeping crocodile!

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   • Linda says:

     September 9, 2013 at 12:24 pm

     http://jonathanpelto.com/2013/09/09/achievement-first-inc-pushing-finchvallas-slate-bridgeport-democratic-primary/

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4. George Buzzetti says:

   September 9, 2013 at 5:07 pm

   Kenneth, that is what a teacher is supposed to do is to influence a persons thinking and life to a better state all around. It does not matter if it comes later. It took years to understand the importance of my aunt, who was a WAC in Europe during WWII and until 1955, gave me the Iliad and the Odyssey and Mein Kampf in the 5th grade. I am just now realizing what she did. I also had many teachers in high school who were dramatically important. My latin, and many other subjects, teacher, Father Eric, I went back to thank and he had died, that was a sad day. Our caculus teacher, Wally, was so much fun and smart and let us do a lot of different things. One was they told us we could not make anything dangerous with the chemicals in chemistry. I always fooled around trying to prove them wrong. One day I succeeded and made what turned out to be poison gas that made us sick. Simply by counting electrons to see if they would fit. We told Wally about it and he asked what did you put in there and I laid out what I put in the soup and he worked it out and said “You made a poison gas, no wonder you all got sick.” These people enlighten you, not suppress you, big difference.

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5. Al Tate says:

   September 9, 2013 at 7:43 pm

   Great Post

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6. jean sanders says:

   September 10, 2013 at 10:35 pm

   School Board Primary, Bridgeport:

   quote: “The victory tips the balance against the mayoral-backed majority on the nine-member board that has supported school superintendent Paul Vallas and education reform efforts. Mayor Bill Finch and the three party-endorsed candidates all support Vallas, whose qualifications to keep the job will be weighed by the state Supreme Court later this month.”

   challenger slate endorsed; thanks to all who helped out

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