Maureen Reedy taught in public school in Ohio for 29 years. She ran in 2012 for the state legislature and narrowly lost. She continues to be a leader in the fight against destructive privatization and excessive high-stakes testing.
She writes:
New Year’s Resolutions For Public Education:
First of all, Kudo’s to Ohio’s Plunderbund investigative journalist, Greg Mild, public school teacher, for his multi-article series exposing the shell games of ECOT’s 100 million dollar salary earning CEO, who only graduates 35% of his students, William Lager. Greg is brilliant!
On to New Year’s Resolutions:
Wouldn’t it be great if tens of thousands of educators, parents and other concerned community members made it their New Year’s resolution to join or start their local, grassroots Public Education group?
That is what IS turning the tide, that is what will ultimately preserve and protect our children, their futures, public education and our teaching profession for this generation and generations to come.
Yes, it would be great to have advocates for public education in Ohio’s State House, as Chiara Duggan suggests in previous comment here.
But, it is tough to get in, because the big money, corporate, for-profit, shell game charter operators are the largest contributors to the GOP. The GOP controls our state legislatures by gerrymandering district lines drastically in favor of candidates for the legislature that will craft laws straight out of the ALEC playbook which funnel our tax dollars to crooked charter school operators like William Lager of ECOT.
As 1 of the 12 public school teachers who ran for the Ohio House of Representatives last cycle, I can personally vouch for the great lengths ECOT founder, William Lager, White Hat founder, David Brennan, Michelle Rhee and other for-profit charter CEOs went to keep teachers OUT of Ohio’s State House.
We ran for the Ohio House, some of us, taking personal leave and giving up a year’s salary, to become advocates and a collective voice, for our children, public education, and our teaching profession.
ECOT’s William Lager, White Hat’s David Brennan, StudentsFirst(Last) Michelle Rhee and the GOP spent 1.5 million dollars in the last 2 weeks of the race against just my campaign, I do not have the total $ spent against all 12 teachers, but rest assured, it is in the millions.
So, what to do? Is all lost?
Do we lose our resolve to restore resources, authenticity and integrity to our public schools, the bedrock of our communities and our democracy?
NO!
Here is what I am convinced will turn the tide… along with following the incredible work being done day in and day out by Diane, Anthony Cody, Greg Mild of Plunderbund, and other bloggers across the country who are giving us resources and ammunition as warriors and patriots for Public Education:
• Join your local grassroots organization for preserving and strengthening our Public Schools, if there isn’t an organization in your area, start one.
• In Ohio, there are 3 active non-partisan groups of engaged community members, planning community wide forums and other action steps to educate the public and expose the for-profit (or non-profit, managed by for-profit) charter scam as well as the dangers of high stakes testing, A – F ranking of schools, evaluating teachers by test scores, etc. There are hundreds of other such groups across the country, you can find them on Diane and Anthony Cody’s Network for Public Education website:http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/
• Here are the Face Book links to Ohio groups:
Central Ohio Friends of Public Education:https://www.facebook.com/COFPE
Northwest Ohio Friends of Public Education:https://www.facebook.com/NWOFPE
• Join the Diane and Anthony’s Network For Public Education, make a weekly donation of $5 to support candidates for school boards across the country who will fight for public education:http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/
Wouldn’t it be great if tens of thousands of educators, parents and other concerned community members made it their New Year’s resolution to join or start their local, grassroots Public Education group?
That is what IS turning the tide, that is what will ultimately preserve and protect our children, their futures, public education and our teaching profession for this generation and generations to come.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“We ran for the Ohio House, some of us, taking personal leave and giving up a year’s salary, to become advocates and a collective voice, for our children, public education, and our teaching profession.”
Thanks so much for running. I know how hard it is to beat the status quo 🙂
Thanks too for compiling this list. I’ll pass it along.
I helped with a school bond issue this past election and it’s the best experience I’ve ever had working with a group of local public school supporters. We won. I probably wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been reading so many “teacher bloggers” (a subset I wasn’t aware even existed). This is a conservative area and support for our public schools really is broad and bipartisan, I discovered.
The only thing I would add is that I think this discussion is somewhat set off from the broader public. One of the things I learned talking to people here is that very few people know that many Ohio charter schools are for-profits. They also didn’t know HOW they had lost funding (although most people are aware that we have less funding under “reform”). I think that may be an indication that the discussion over public schools is too narrow (limited to teachers and public school parents). When they hear the word “public” they attach that to their own experience in public schools, and assume “public” means “not profit” and “locally managed”. It doesn’t, of course, or doesn’t now.
The vast majority of people attended public schools, and I’m not at all persuaded the vast majority of the public is actually on board with just throwing them away. We have this thing in common, and it’s public schools. I think we could bring them in.
Thanks again, and I’ll take your advice.
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This info is right on point. Grassroots organizing is what is casuing the tide to turn. I see it ever so slowly. I am very involved in my state as Union Presdent and Bad Ass teachers in my state . Wondering if I should do another group for parents..
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And I have to pass this along, because it really reads like a piece in The Onion.
It’s about that awkward moment when Rahm Emanuel meets a public school parent 🙂
“After the mayor finished speaking, Simmons rose to call the mayor out.
As soon as Simmons spoke, the emcee on stage tried to silence her, people around her looked away embarrassed and security arrived to escort her out of the building. On the street, she was met by two uniformed Chicago police officers who informed her if she tried to go back in, she would be arrested.
And that was that.”
It’s ALL about empowering parents, don’t you know 🙂
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Activist-Who-Heckled-Rahm-Says-Mayor-Hypocritcal-about-MLK-241151911.html#ixzz2r2YsbdpT
http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Activist-Who-Heckled-Rahm-Says-Mayor-Hypocritcal-about-MLK-241151911.html
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The tide is turning but will never fully turn until we have a plan to assess and educatate students in a way they are best able, to take kids from where they are and to serve all kids on an even playing field. Simply to win accomplishes nothing. If public schools are to survive, going back to the slavery based system of education designed in the late eighteenth century will not cut it.
We must show that we are serious about serving all kids. We must build a “better mouse trap”. Unless we do, public schools will continue to perish no matter how much we shout and whine. For ideas go to http://www.wholechildreform.com
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I think more teachers will join the fight when the devastating effects of OTES and CC$$ testing come to them. Not all districts are subject to OTES this year. Many are disgruntled but detached – until it effects them. In education we tend to put our heads down and do what they tell us hoping it will pass until the next Ed fad hits. They don’t realize we are headed for the slaughter!!
And yes – THANK YOU Maureen Reedy! Keep fighting!
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What is OTES.
Some of us are AI!
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Sorry – it’s “Ohio Teacher Evaluation System” and it’s just as crappy as the other ones nationwide that have been mentioned here. It hasn’t hit all of Ohio yet, though. Some are still operating under contracts that run out this year or if they are lucky next. Some of us aren’t so lucky and we are drowning in SLOs (Student Learning Objectives), ridiculous Danielson inspired evaluation rubrics, etc.
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Unfortunately, I think we have the same crap starting next year in my district in Missouri. They won’t like it when I blacken out that section of the evaluation (if I can as more likely than not it will be on a computer and not on paper).
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And this from a parent in Connecticut:
With Common Core, Connecticut has lost control of children’s education
“I am a parent of two school-age children in New Milford, and a teacher in Connecticut. I am writing to voice my concerns about the Common Core.
In the beginning, I had many questions and no one could seem to answer them. Why was everything about Common Core such a secret? I began researching and doing some digging on my own.
What I found is that Common Core standards are detrimental to the well-rounded education of our children and they serve corporate and political interests and not those of our children.”
The rest at:
http://www.newstimes.com/opinion/article/Denise-Bard-With-Common-Core-Connecticut-has-5159944.php
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ALEC and the Koch brothers are using the CCSS controversy to further their larger agenda.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/common-core-conservatives-education-101796.html
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The tide will turn when teachers stop trying to reason with their abusers and refuse to participate in what their hearts and professional training tells them is child abuse.
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Well said for calling the reform measures that hurt children what it is: abuse!
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¡Exacto!
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I agree. I think some are just in denial. I know I was for a long time. I couldn’t believe this was really happening. Then I was depressed. Now I’m mad. Grateful for all the bloggers here and of course, Diane for educating me. I spread the word as much as I can.
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