Mercedes Schneider did the research last year to expose the hack work of the so-called Center for Union Facts.
This is a PR firm for corporate America that has no credentials regarding education. Its agenda is union-busting,
Here is her post about the full-page ad in today’s USA Today, brought to you by the same folks who do not know that the highest-scoring states in the nation (on NAEP) have unions, and the lowest-scoring states do not.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I would bet they know it, and I would also bet it scares them.
LikeLike
Schneider’s comment is excellent. BTW, all who care about public education should read Schneider’s new book, A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who in the Implosion of American Public Education.– Edd Doerr (arlinc.org)
LikeLike
After I bought my copy, I asked my library to order the book. And, I recommended it to my school board.
LikeLike
Hooray Mercedes…thanks for this info, and thanks Diane for getting it to us so fast. I am writing an article under deadline about Vergara for a local media outlet and will certainly use this.
FYI…my comment yesterday about starting a legal fund for the benefit of teachers who are being treated unjustly in LAUSD, brought offers of support from teachers around the country. A huge thank you to you who followed up on this. A committee is being formed already to flesh this out and I will keep you all informed as it progresses. It we can make it work in LA, it can be a template for other communities.
If you want to join us please contact me at
joiningforces2ed@aol.com
LikeLike
Why aren’t teachers speaking up locally and engaging parents? Not only about this smear campaign about teachers, but about every facet of education reform and how bad it is? Too many teachers simply believe it will all work out, but they need to wake up and speak up.
The teacher is the closest to the students and parents, and they should call every parent over the summer and explain what is truly going on – from bad experimental standards, testing online, mysterious tests that no one can see, mysterious data collection to feed the statewide longitudinal databases, all of it!! It is happening in every state, now tell people.
Parents DO NOT KNOW what is going on…teachers need to read up on this, and then explain it to the parents.
LikeLike
I overheard a parent talking about Common Core. She said she complained to her teacher and wrote several letters to the school. She had no idea CCSS was a Federal imposed standard/curriculum. She was not even quite sure about CCSS.
Parents I talk to are confused. They are constantly bombarded with anti-teacher propaganda from the right. Then Arne tells them their schools are failing from the left. Throw in some fearmongering, “big gubbermint all bad”, and divide and conquer, you have the seeds of mistrust towards educators.
But parents also want good, caring, dedicated teachers. That is the key. They don’t see the evil, lazy educators as portrayed by Rhee, Gates, and Fox News. They see dedicated neighbors and professionals in the classroom 8 hours a day with their child; then more hours coaching basketball, leading a band, or advising a prom committee. Billl Gates isn’t there. Neither is Arne, or Jeb, or any Walton. Pearson doesn’t comfort a distraught teen over a break up or bandage a nasty scrape on the playground. Rhee doesn’t patiently explain quadratic formula for the 10th time or tell a student with ADHD they are doing a great job on an essay.
I do agree parents are the hammer to be brought down on the Reformers. Right now, parents do not see what is happening nor is education on their radar. When parents do mobilize, teachers need to be there to reveal the truth and support what could be a massive backlash against Reformers.
LikeLike
Right now, the cognitive dissonance is overwhelmingly being used to divide and conquer. We love our own children’s teachers, but hate those ambiguous bad ones. The older population remembers their own good teachers, but despises the lazy current bunch. It is very bad, and teachers really have to step up and take back their jobs. As a certified teacher, I am stunned that even if I wanted to go back into the classroom, I could never do now the way things are going.
Teachers are truly the victims of Stockholm Syndrome; hate the abuse, and the abusers, thinking it will get better or it isn’t that bad, and simply afraid to speak up. This is absolutely horrible.
The best thing would be to get every teacher who is close or ready to retire to be the spokespeople…we need teachers who have nothing to lose, who will take the bullets to be the leaders….the others will follow. This is a historical moment in history and we need some heroes right now.
LikeLike
I agree. Parents are totally lost. Most have no idea and are being manipulated. My dad asked me today what I think will happen to the schools. He is a big Fox News fan. He will complain about teachers, but then, all his kids are teachers. It is tough because he hears the anti-teacher spew from Fox, but then agrees with the issues we raise in reality. Most of America is similar. “Teachers are terrible, lazy, incompetent and need a good firin’ to bring them in line!” Yet most parents like their kid’s teacher.
I told my dad, if parents do not wake up and begin truly supporting teachers and schools, the system will collapse. There is no way most people could afford “free market” private education. The current private schools could not handle the demand and tuition will skyrocket. When people have to take out student loans for first grade, they will wonder what happened.
LikeLike
We can’t talk to parents in my state about CC or the testing. Our licenses have been threatened if we do.
LikeLike
How great is it that our media and politicians decided all the problems in the country are attributable to public schools? That certainly lets a whole lot of very powerful people completely off the hook. Coincidence?
When do we get to the part where we “reform” government? When does DC reform? I’m not seeing a whole lot of excellence. They can start with some ethics reforms, and then they can ban going directly from government to lobbying government and then back again.
They should all be wearing patches like NASCAR drivers with their corporate sponsors visible to the public, at the very least.
I think it’s great they’re all brainstorming on “reforming” tenure. When do they clean up their side of the street?
LikeLike
I like the patches with sponsors idea.
LikeLike
Yes, at least the drivers and teams are being honest about who owns them.
LikeLike
LOL NASCAR! I love it. Yes, NASCAR is a good example of where free markets without strong government adult supervision end up. NASCAR has a few teams who dominate nearly every race and everyone tries to cheat or destroy an opponent to win. The sport has become so boring, NASCAR has to manufacture excitement and present a facade of competition. Did I mention only one woman drives? And yes, I used to be a fan.
LikeLike
“Pres. Obama in Feb. issued an E.O. to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for workers on federal construction & service contracts.”
How incredibly generous of them! That way, when they completely privatize federal and state public entities and it’s all contract temp employees they’ll be GUARANTEED 10.10 an hour.
There were “federal construction contracts” where they were paying workers less than 10.10 an hour? What were they making/building? Luxury suites for the lobbyists?
LikeLike