Randi Weingarten is on her way to speak at the Network for Public Education’s second annual conference in Chicago this weekend.
But she detoured to London to attend the Pearson shareholder meeting. She took the opportunity to tell Pearson to stop spying on children through their social media accounts. And she requested that Pearson stop lobbying and making campaign contributions to politicians for the sake of their testing business.
I am not sure that the folks at Prstson ever heard such straight talk.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And I’m sure they didn’t hear it this time either.
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She’s a waste of 46 chromosomes. She is a reason to why we teachers are screwed.
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The British Morning Star reported that this was a collaborative effort between US and UK parents and teachers, and that they had bought Pearson stock just so they could attend and speak out at Pearson’s shareholders meeting: “Education privateer besieged” http://t.co/42bgadRUGk
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I find the clip very hard to understand because her back is to whomever recorded it. Do you have a transcript?
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Where was she when the children and their teachers needed her? She made robocalls in support of Cuomo’s Lt. Governor. The same guy who said the tests ” don’t count for kids”, yet uses them to evaluate teachers.
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Randi Weingarten should stay in London. She is part of the problem not part of the solution. She is a political hack not an advocate for teachers or children.
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I think it’s nuts we’re petitioning the contractor.
Where are the elected representatives who hire the contractor? Aren’t they supposed to be providing some oversight? I guess Pearson could voluntarily self-police due to market pressures or bad publicity, but it’s pretty sad we’re all relying on that.
If we have to travel to board meetings and petition government contractors directly why do we need our representatives in government?
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She should stay in London because she is the Neville Chamberlain of education leadership.
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Weingarten is part of the larger problem. Period. It’s an abomination that she even has the title of “labor leader.” Anytime she even remotely does the right thing, it’s underwhelming and one is left with the feeling that others could have done or said the same way more effectively. Those instances of her flirting with doing the right things are ALWAYS checked by her glaring moments of doing the absolute worst wrong thing (Robocalls, etc). The only way to see her is very simple: she is not on our side and we would be better off without the confusion her job title and actions cause. She can’t right her ship. She should exit the stage. Please.
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I have a better idea. Cancel all contracts with Pearson. Problem solved.
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It is my understanding that many software products sold to schools for student use also monitor students on social media. How much is being disclosed to teachers, parents and students about this?
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You guys got it all wrong. Pearson cares deeply.
http://blog.pearson.com/the-private-sector-and-the-public-trust/
http://blog.pearson.com/who-we-are-and-what-we-stand-for/
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Pearson cares deeply…
about what’s in their pocketses
“Stopping by schools on a doughy evening’ (with apologies to Robert Frost)
Whose schools these are I think I know
Their houses are in the village though
They will not see the Pearson test
And see their schools farmed out for dough
The classroom teacher thinks I jest
Reform without an expert guest
Between the test and Common Core
And iPads, VAMs and all the rest
She spots her pink slip on the door
And curses her value-added score
The only other sounds the sweep
Of janitor broom on hallway floor
The pockets are lovely, dark and deep
And I have promi$e$ to keep
And million$ to make before I sleep
And million$ to make before I sleep
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☙☙☙ Ladies and GentleBATs, I give you our Poet Goreate ☙☙☙
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Straight talk?
From Randi (who in her statement called Pearson “one of the leading education companies in the world”)?
That’s a good one!
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Yes, RW talks a lot, but what actions does she promote? How about pushing for AFT members to boycott exam proctoring! In fact I can’t recall RW talking about any actions at all against harmful educational policies.
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Michael,
Why would Weingarten talk about opposing education reform? She is in favor of all those policies.
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Agreed. Posted it because I’m disappointed that Diane Ravitch obviously supports RW whenever RW makes a statement that could be seen as a “positive” despite RW’s “positively” negative actions over the years.
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Can’t help but wonder if Randi’s playing both ends off the middle tactic, by acknowledging the need for some kind of teacher evaluation system, and not being initially critical of the common core, and not coming out with a full-throated No! to every initiative sponsored by corporate reform has the effect of undermining the criticism against teacher unions.
I think of the aggressive, well financed and well coordinated response to de Blasio’s support for public schools after he took office. The charter school hedge fund privateers were poised to negatively define, and possibly undermine, his entire leadership with this issue. Maybe my understanding of his response is wrong, but it seemed to me that he took a few steps back, realizing that the charter industry “beast” was considerably more connected and entrenched than he initially thought. A frontal assault was the wrong tactic.
The fact that the New York Times is unwilling to present an honest evaluation of the Parent Led opt out movement, shows the degree to which the conversation on school reform is dominated by those who want to defund public education.
Randi and the teachers union have been villianized through the media by corporate reformers who have tremendous resources. ie: her face plastered on a bill board in Times Square. Direct and forceful opposition to this will, undoubtedly, be used to support the corrupt narrative that the teacher’s unions are greedy and self serving. How does one navigate through this hostile landscape?
Public perception matters.
I’m not saying that Randi’s intention all along was, as the expression goes: to “give them enough rope so that they can hang themselves”, but It does occur to me that this is one possible effect. By not opposing too directly every free market initiative proffered by the corporate reformers their union bashing has less credibility.
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Jonathan, it’s one thing for the AFT/UFT to try to use jiu jitsu (using an opponent’s force and energy against them) in response to the so-called reformers – btw, that’s an analogy that has been used by Leo Casey, a longtime union leadership spokesperson – and it’s not necessarily a far-fetched or illogical approach, especially when dealing with such wealthy and powerful foes.
But jiu jitsu is one thing, collaboration is another. It doesn’t explain the AFT accepting Gates money, or featuring him as a keynote speaker at the national convention (while smugly encouraging your apparatchiks to mock those protesting his presence). It doesn’t explain or justify Randi allowing herself to be used as an “asset” by Eli Broad (as related in a Broad Foundation annual report). It doesn’t justify her continuing support of Common Core, or her factotum in New York’s warning to teachers to have nothing to do with the opt-out movement. The list goes on and on.
Though the so-called reformers are hittiing a few rough spots, and opposition to them is finally starting to grow, supporters of public education still face an immensely wealthy and highly developed complex of adversaries, and whatever success they’re having has little or nothing to do do with Randi Weingarten, whose long list of catastrophic decisions over the past twenty years has enabled the enemies of teachers and public schools.
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Another photo op for Randi. She’s against the spying but not against the testing or the evaluations.
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I have been critical of Diane’s seemingly endless support for Randi Weingarten on this blog, noting that Weingarten took Common Core money from Bill Gates, signed on to the Common Core standards, and endorsed the Common Core accountability and evaluation measures. Weingarten even joined a Gates Foundation nabob to wrote that it was critical for American public education to “align teacher development and evaluation to the Common Core state standards.”
It takes a LOT to walk back and undo all that Common Core nonsense, and – frankly – we’ve not seen that from Weingarten.
Because I criticized Weingarten and Diane’s support for her, Ravitch attacked me for hiding “behind a pseudonym” (though I cannot remember her assailing anyone else on her blog for using one), and for criticism that helped “the guys outside the tent,” and for unnecessary squabbling “over ideological purity.” All of this was, she said, “just dumb.” She said Weingarten was “moving in incremental steps.”
The original post and all of the comments can be seen here:
As I said above, it’s going to take a gazillion baby steps to undo what Weingarten helped to set in motion.
The commenters here seem to agree that Raid Weingarten has been essentially worthless to teachers. One said Weingarten “is part of the problem not part of the solution.” Another said “she is the Neville Chamberlain of education leadership.” And a third asked this question: “Why would Weingarten talk about opposing education reform? She is in favor of all those policies.” A fourth noted that the Weingarten baby step cited here is only “Another photo op for Randi. She’s against the spying but not against the testing or the evaluations.”
The explicit purpose of the Common Core is to prepare kids “to compete successfully in the global economy,” a rationale that has been recently scrubbed from the CCSI website.
The US Chamber of Commerce and the Roundtable and Exxon-Mobil and other top corporations and organizations (among them, the Gates Foundation, the College Board, Lockheed Martin, JP Morgan Chase, Boeing, Northrop Grumman…) all subscribe to and promote the myth that American economic competitiveness, innovation and economic growth depend on school “reform” that’s based on the Common Core, AP courses, and STEM emphasis. That’s what the AFT (and NEA) agreed to. And that’s what’s really dumb, and disturbing.
Given that there is no sound basis for the Common Core, and that it is supported by some of the biggest and baddest financial players in the country who want to blame public education for the economic problems they caused, why is Weingarten – baby steps aside – still taking their side on Common Core?
Asking such a question can hardly be construed as “ideological purity.” In fact, it’s really just common sense.
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democracy,
I am a teacher in Newark. Randi came to Newark to personally involve herself in the negotiations of our disastrous “historic” contract. AFT donated money for the Teacher Village in Newark built primarily to house TFA and a charter school. Randi supports Common Core, VAM and merit pay. She took money from Gates. She obfuscates the problems with Pearson controlled testing by concerning herself with peripheral issues. Whenever she makes a public pronouncement that sounds plausible, she is simultaneously selling teachers down the river behind closed doors.
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And yet, NJ Teacher, as I and others – including yourself – point out here, Randi Weingarten regularly gets celebrated on this blog….you have to ask, why?
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democracy: Randi gets celebrated by Diane Ravitch and no virtually one else on this blog. For that reason I am a relatively casual supporter on this blog. If the NEA & the UFT/AFT were actively fighting the “reform” movement and really supported their members I believe the teachers/public education would be in much better shape today.
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