I'm on a bit of a mission and I'd like some help.
I like Change.org and I sign lots of petitions that are great there. But about every other time I do I get presented with a petition from Students First. It sounds great, Pay good teachers what they deserve, I can go for that! But wait a minute... Students First, Students First isn't that Michelle Rhee's outfit? The one that is out to destroy teachers unions? The one funneling thousand of dollars to anti-education GOP politicians?
Yeah, THAT Student's First. So I sent Change.org a note to ask them to take the petition down because it is at best misleading if not dishonest. Their reply? In short, no. So I wrote them again. See my 2nd note and their reply over the flip.
Since they wouldn't listen to just little old me, I figured I'd see if they'd listen to me and several thousand of my best buds, so, if you are with me on this, please go to MY petition and give it some love:
Change.org take that petition down
Here's my 2nd request to Change.org:
I've contacted you once before regarding Students First and their petition regarding paying teachers better. I've no problem with a petition that honestly represents what an organization espouses, but this petition is disingenuous if not down right dishonest. What the signers are asked to support is merit-based pay without naming it what it is and without a word about how merit is to be determined.
Students First seeks to privatize K-12 education and eliminate teachers unions, goals which are in no way reflected in their Change.org petition. Again, I'm perfectly fine if they post a petition that fairly describes what they propose, the elimination of collective bargaining to be replaced with merit-based pay (for which there are numerous models, some quite abysmal and none with a track record of success in improving student performance) and and asks for public support. This petition doesn't come the least bit close to doing that and I ask you again to either have the petition modified to accurately reflect what Student First openly advocates or else take it down.
Best regards,
Me
And their response:
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on this.
As an open, non-partisan platform that enables individuals and social change organizations to promote causes to people around the world, Change.org doesn't take a position on the means or tactics that individuals or organizations use to achieve their goals, provided that ethical practices and policies are in place. You may find it more productive to take these issues up with the petition creator and not the Change.org Help Desk.
At the top of every petition hosted by Change.org there are two pieces of information. One is labeled "Petitioning" and identifies all of the people who will receive email generated from signing. The next of these two items is labeled "Created By" and identifies the individual or group that created/administrates the petition. This field is usually a hyperlink that you can click on to go to an email address or another page that will contain the appropriate contact information.
Thank you.
Alexander
-Customer Support