This article in Jacobin magazine describes the astonishing victory of the Massachusetts Teachers Association in a recent confrontation with the state board of education and the state commissioner. The state commissioner floated a proposal to remove teachers’ licenses if they failed their evaluation, a draconian step that would bar the teacher from teaching in the state in the future. The MTA, under the leadership of recently elected president Barbara Madeloni, informed its members, mobilized the membership, and refused to negotiate this draconian and punitive plan. The MTA did not want a seat at the table; they knew the members were on the menu.
It was not always this way. Not long ago, the union negotiated with the anti-union “reform” group called Stand for Children and bargained away some of their rights to avoid something worse. They dared not be militant.
This time, the teachers of Massachusetts under bold leadership were militant and well organized, and they won. That is the only way to stop the destructive reformers. Not by meeting them half way. Not by giving them half a loaf; they will be back for more. Stand up to them and fight against their efforts to destroy the teaching profession, to destroy teacher unionism, and to destroy public education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So proud of our fantastic teachers here in MA! Great leadership by Barbara.
MA parents/teachers please come join Citizens for Public Education Talk tomorrow night (12/4) in Cambridge.
As a Massachusetts educator, I want to second your posting, Diane. I want to add that it is critical that MTA locals begin to become more active and, yes, militant. There is , unfortunately a long history of locals in the more affluent school districts going to their school committee on bended knees and like Oliver, in Oliver Twit pleading “Please, sir, can I have more”. Locals have accepted VAM evaluations, PARCC and the ‘deformer’ agenda as it has passed down from Mitchell Chester to the Superintendents and school committees. Those locals have to learn that their members interest are not the interests of the school committees. l
Local unions need help in raising their self awareness of the Mitchell Chester – Local Education Agency agenda and how they can mobilize their membership to stand up for their rights. My hope is that Barbara Mandeloni will have ‘wood-shedding’ discussions with the MTA regional representatives on the need to activate local unions, both in the more affluent LEAs (Local Education Agency) and the poorer urban districts (which, in fact are demonstrating union activism).Barbara Mandelonis victory is, as we have already seen,is a victory for all MTA members. Similarly, active local unions are critical in the state wide struggle with Mitchell Chester and school committees.
A little thought experiment. Let’s use the ‘new math’ employed by every charter that gets 100% graduation rates, by every charter that collects a full year’s allocation for a student they have for a month or two and then dumps them [sans any of the yearly allocation] on the nearest public school for the rest of the school year but declares charters “do more with less,” and by John Deasy (when he headed LAUSD) that gives us a 12% graduation rate but is really a 2% graduation rate because he conveniently left out all those ‘rate suppressors’ he is supposedly so passionate about.
Imagine this scenario. Where collective bargaining is still in effect, teachers and other public school staff go in and negotiate under extreme duress a “compromise” that gives them half a loaf and the self-styled “education reformers” half a loaf. The former got 50%. That’s the first round. Soon thereafter, in the second round, the teachers and other public school staff “compromise” again and give up half of the half, i.e., 50% ÷ 2 = 25%. And sooner rather than later, in a third round of wheeling and dealing, a third “compromise” gives them 50% of that 25%, i.e., 12.5%.
See where I’m going with this?
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Which, using the language of edufrauds like Michelle Rhee-Johnson who actually believed that she walked on the waters of EduExcellence by taking “her” kids from the 13th percentile to the 90th when she was co-teaching, means that teachers and other public school staff are lazy incompetent whiners who always get what they want—
Half of “everything”! Sucking the life out of the classroom by hogging a critical mass of the “goodies” for themselves!
All this from six figure educrats carrying out the charteritzation/privatization of public schools who are only in it “for the sake of the kids.”
But why the constant overkill? Sometimes, when an old dead Greek guy won’t do, an old dead Roman comes in handy:
“For greed all nature is too little.” [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
From the LATIMES, 10-21-2014:
“(The district on Monday also updated details of Deasy’s separation agreement. He’ll receive about $61,000 for unused vacation days in addition to about $70,000 in severance to be available as needed through year’s end.)”
Link: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-cortines-20141021-story.html
Could it be that the self-proclaimed leaders and enablers of the “new civil rights movement of our time” are really in it for themselves and it’s not Rheeally all about the kids? That the hard data points they are most interested in appear on their monthly checking and savings accounts?
“I reject that mind-set.” [Michelle Rhee]
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Look, if “Dr.” Steve Perry is “America’s Most Trusted Educator” [it has to be true! it’s in big bold letters on his website!] then ya gotta believe the former DCPS Chancellor.
And if you don’t believe me, than trust in the judgment and words of “Dr.” Ted Morris. He knows all about…
Better quit while I’m ahead…
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Barbara Mandolini should be mentoring Karen Magee and Micheal Mulgrew. When Cuomo comes after us, we better be ready to fight back.
The Greatest Risk to Our Profession: Us
http://www.brettdickerson.net/deeper-issue-kill-teaching-profession/
“Half-way Meetings”
To meet Reform half-way
And half-way there again
What would Limits say
About the final end?
That it approaches ZERO!
Which is what the edudeformers think about the value of experienced (more than five years) public school teachers. And what they’d like us to earn.
I think that would be great advice for Randi Weingarten (AFT) and Michael Mulgrew (UFT).
Don’t negotiate with “terrorists!”
Sorry, but they take their “advice” – closer to “orders,” really – from Bill Gates and Eli Broad.
Barbara Madeloni sets an example for union leadership, organizing members to fight for their needs and the needs of students.
Proud to be an MTA teacher! Go, Barbara!
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé and commented:
There is no room for compromise in the Milton Friedman economic corporate war being waged against the U.S. public schools. The fake education reformers supported by billionaires and corporations must be defeated.
Agreed!!! In spades!!! years ago when “A Nation at Risk” came out I tried to organize opposition. It did not happen. Things have gone down hill ever since.
It is better to fight wrong and lose than to condone evil and win.
To Gordon Wilder:
To me, it is better to fight for our principle if even we lose at all cost even career and life, much better than to live without our dignity or conscience of being an educator.
There are many southern commanders and their close subordinates chose to fight back until the last bullet for their own lives against the invasion of Northern VN communists, in April 1975.
They died with honoured spirits much better than those who are gullible, and GAGAs in trust to communists(=capitalist without humanity), and who died with regret, shame, and torture in communist concentrated camps.
Life without conscience is not worth to be called a sentient human being. Back2basic
You are so right!! The current state of affairs in education– & many other areas of American life– can only be attributed to a kow-towing of middle-class voters [since the late ’70’s], hoping leaders would protect their ever-diminishing turf– believing in cynically-propagated ideological propaganda, instead of demanding appropriate action to meet the challenges of globalism & mechanization of mfg jobs. What the h__ else is govt for!… Meanwhilethe govt was busy selling shares in the shrinking pie to the highest bidders, while pushing thro legislation to legitimize their actions.
If ever there was a need for critical thinking, it was 1979-late 1980’s. Now, in our through-the-looking-glass world, we have a govt ed agency pushing stds & assessments in the name of ‘critical thinking’ which are in reality [at least in CCSS-ELA] geared to distract learners away from political or ideological content with ‘close-reading’ of textusl snippets absent of social or historical context.
I’ll repeat what others here have said… are you paying attention Randi Weingarten, Michael Mulgrew and Karen Magee?
They are on their own trip and desperately attempting to to string us along; and there are ever growing numbers of educators who won’t be fooled again.