Steven Singer noticed a curious phenomenon: certain mainstream media outlets “The Atlantic” and “Education Week”) were intent on proving that the Teacher Revolt of Spring 2018 had fizzled out and that the cries of “We Will Remember in November” had fallen flat.
Since I’m writing a book that includes this topic, I noticed the same slant innlocal reporting: where were the teachers who ran for office? Why were so few elected?
What struck me was that teacher candidates ran as underfunded, unknown novices, often taking on experienced politicians. I was impressed that any of them won. The journalists seemed to think that if 2 or 3 won their races, that was a defeat. I didn’t see it that way. It was amazing that any was elected.
Steven lists a number of races where teachers’ votes made the difference. He could have added flipping the New Hampshire Legislature. Electing an educator, Kathy Hoffman, as State Superintendent in deep red Arizona, where she beat a former charter school operator. And the number of states where the anti-public school supermajority was broken (we are unlikely to hear much about vouchers in Texas for the next two years because of the blue wave in that state that broke the grip of righwingers in the legislator. The victory of Pro-public School Tony Thurmond over Charter School ally Marshall Tuck in the race for State Superintendent of Instruction in California, although Tuck’s campaign spent twice as much as Thurmond’s.
I wsxhoping that TIME would choose the Brave Teachers who fought for funding their schools as Person of the Year. But I was gratified to see that Time honored journalists who stood up for truth and facts.
A tough choice.
Thanks to Steven Singer for putting the victory of Brave Teachers in perspective.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Beat news reporters are gone. Reporters who expose corruption at the deepest levels of power are few & far between. The for-profit media industry has hollowed out newsrooms so that the few stories they run are those they pull down from the internet or those spewed out by Koch backed State Policy Networks, https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/State_Policy_Network
The good news is there are some media organizations & reporters still out there that shine light on the stealth campaign by right wing billionaires to shape news to serve their personal agendas
https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/not-transparent/Content?oid=8366147
LikeLike
I would add Democracy Now to the list of legitimate journalism sites who don’t simply act as mouthpieces for their corporate owners and/or sponsors the way organizations like MSNBC, CNN and NPR do.
LikeLike
And of course, the way Fox News does (but that goes without saying)
LikeLike
The journalists seemed to think that if 2 or 3 won their races, that was a defeat.
Why are journalists expressing opinions on this at all?
When did journalists go from reporting facts to expressing opinions? (about teachers and even invasion of countries)
In my opinion, journalists need to take a look in the mirror because a lot of the negative stuff they are saying about teachers and others is moreapplicable to themselves.
I’m not even sure why anyone should care whether some self styled journalist thinks 2 or even 1 out of 3 teachers elected is a defeat or whether American schools are in crisis.
LikeLike
SomeDam Poet,
I TOTALLY AGREE with YOU.
LikeLike
Look how quickly teachers got results when they went on strike, compared to the slow slog and myriad obstacles in the way of electoral gains. The lessons are clear–statewide general strikes get results and show the power teachers already have in their hands, something to remember for next time before they go out again and settle too soon for too little with their own union “leaders” urging them to go back to their classrooms. Electoral politics are controlled by the two major parties to prevent outsiders, insurgents, rebels, and the non-elite from displacing the cronies now in office on both sides of the aisle. The progressives in the Democratic Party are brave, smart advocates who are still far from making a difference while the striking teachers en masse were able to get some results in a matter of days and weeks. Nothing can compare to the power of mass movements, general strikes, and national boycotts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed. My feeling was tha5 the big corporations and states will rue the day they destroyed 7nuons. People will still organize but those in power won’t know who to negotiate woth. The wildcatters can’t be controlled.
LikeLike
Yes, and the UTLA march was wonderful and promising. When all teachers go out, the crony politicians will scramble to settle and find the money.
LikeLike
And if, as the strikes continue, those who are leading figure out how to both GET their demands out to the public in full, and then keep them articulately in the forefront (not counting on local or national news coverage to be on their side), the gains will be even bigger.
LikeLike
The “not so good” news I read this morning from Politico was about Chase Koch, the oldest son of Charles Koch. Chase is inheriting the Koch network and although in the interview I read, he said he will be backing away from funding politics and elections, he and his wife Annie are committed to promoting “school choice” since the public schools have failed.
‘During the July Koch network meeting, Annie spoke to the crowd about Wonder (this is a private school funded by Annie and Chase) in light of how traditional schools have failed, saying she wanted a school that would allow her children to “discover who they are and what they love, and what they’re good at, and how they’re going to put all those things together to find fulfillment and what they love in the world.” The school opened up 35 slots this fall, but received interest from more than 500 students, and will expand to have a high school in future years. “There really is a huge tidal wave out there of people looking for something different,” she said.’
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/12/14/koch-brothers-chase-charles-next-generation-223099
LikeLike
Billionaire Choice
You have the right to choose
The billionaire you wish
But simply can’t refuse
A billionaire, capiche?
LikeLike
One of your better ones. Gonna have to start calling you SomeDam Bard.
LikeLike
I figure that if Hallmark channel has a Christmas movie about a district that has to ‘trim the budget’, things are becoming known. I’m a retired music teacher and I DO GET the message. “Cut the arts since they aren’t necessary.”
I went through four districts in Illinois after District #170, Chicago Heights didn’t pass a referendum by 6 votes. I never again got tenure and finally left the country to work in Bolivia. I couldn’t handle the stress of only having a job for 1-2 years before being let go. I was beginning to wonder why I couldn’t hold onto a job anymore. The stress of those years was unbearable.
………………………………………..
Movie: “It’s Christmas, Eve”
When a superintendent returns to her hometown to trim the school’s budget, she concocts a plan to gather donations to save the music program
LikeLike
I thought the Wong article Singer is reacting to was good on the whole, just skewed by the unfortunate title “The Questionable Year of the Teacher Politician.” The subtitle summarizes her actual content: “While claims that a record number of educators ran for office in 2018 may have been overstated, Tuesday night showed the political momentum at their back.” The article would have been perfect if she’d concluded the opening para [the downer interpretation of stats] w/: “To be sure, teacher candidates ran as unfunded, [etc – insert Diane’s 3rd para above].”
Personally I’m happy MSM isn’t building this up into a giant talking point in prep for loudly shooting it down as a 2018 flash-in-the-pan. This movement is grass-roots, growing from serious on-the-ground issues. MSM didn’t see it coming, will no doubt flounder in analysis, & who cares. The engine driving it is not pundit-related & will keep on chugging. All we need is event coverage.
LikeLike
If you want to know how many teachers won that ran for office in 2018, this may be the site with those results:
“Nearly 1,800 educators ran for office in the midterms. Here’s who won:
“This year’s midterms saw more educator candidates than any other election cycle. How many will serve in public office?”
https://www.educationdive.com/news/nearly-1800-educators-ran-for-office-in-the-midterms-heres-who-won/541436/
It is obvious that the BIG win was in state legislatures. The number of wins might be a small ratio of the total 1,800 that ran for office, but that total was a record breaking number.
If teachers continue to run for office in record breaking high numbers in election after election, eventually we will start to see dramatic results through legislation as teachers keep chipping away at the big block of ice that represents corporate controlled politics.
One election in 2018 is not enough. We must encourage teachers to keep running in elections in record numbers. I’d like to see more than 1,800 run for office in 2020.
LikeLike