TIME Article May Be The Trigger To Break The EDUCATION LOGJAM !
We are just getting a little sniff of the STORM coming up. The Nov 3 issue of TIME has not hit the stands yet. But, already the massive and powerful teacher unions in the US are starting petitions and boycotts against the magazine because of its upcoming cover story — Rotten Apples – It’s Nearly Impossible to Fire A Bad Teacher.
Teacher unions in Canada are also getting nervous — and social media is abuzz on the topic.
I would suggest that long suffering parents and others frustrated by the public education establishment and its many abuses start cluing in to some of the controversies. This may just be the best gift the public will ever have to shatter the myths and defenses of a system grown sour and harmful to the life chances of so many young students.
Here are some of the SYSTEM’s excuses and countermeasures:
– Due process is necessary to protect teachers.
– Poverty, race, non-English speaking minorities are the reason for poor results.
– Underfunding is the problem.
– Weak-kneed principals are the problem: a bad teacher can be fired easily.
– Drop your subscription to TIME; refuse TIME in your library; sign the petition. [Kill the messenger!]
Here is the opportunity for parents and others to ASK QUESTIONS:
– How have teacher unions grown to be so powerful and obstreperous?
– How have governments failed and allowed wholesale abuses to proliferate?
– Why are parents reduced to fund-raising for schools instead of insisting on accountability?
– How come curriculum is dumbed-down with social promotions and retreat from the basics with no commitment to even ensure learning to read is a priority?
– How come “social justice” and collaborative competency and other social-emotional efforts are replacing the 3Rs? Are the public schools really radicalizing students to feel so oppressed that they need to go out and “change the world”?
– Why is the school system incapable of change?
http://time.com/3533556/the-war-on-teacher-tenure/?pcd=hp-magmod Is one in four a rotten apple?
http://action.aft.org/c/44/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9270 Apology demanded by teacher union because teachers are blamed for problems in schools.
Here is a challenge: Use these three terms in a meaningful sentence relating to this school issue: Vergara, Berliner, Scott Walker.