I have previously told you about the two yearlykos educational sessions for which I have responsibility, Education Uprising: Educating for Democracy at 1 PM on Friday August 3, and Rethinking Educational Accountability at 10:30 AM on Saturday. Now I am delighted to announce a third educational session on Friday at 4 PM. The title is, as this diary is labeled Spinning Unions—Mainstream Media Has It Wrong about Teachers’Unions. Below the fold I will offer some details about this session, which includes not only the participation of representatives of both teachers unions, NEA and AFT, but a special appearance by author Linda Perlstein, about whose new book I wrote in Testing: its affects on one school. I urge you to keep reading this diary. And I urge you to recommend it to keep it visible.
John See, associate director director of public affairs at AFT, posted as a guest blogger at Firedoglake. His Stop by Yearly Kos Workshop: Combined Forces—How Labor and the Netroots Can Save America’s Schools, which was put up for him by the AFL-CIO's Tula Connell has a detailed background of the problem and a description of the session. I'd like to quote a bit from that before offering a few remarks of my own.
John begins his remarks as follows:
The vast right-wing conspiracy is real, at least when it comes to attacking labor unions and denigrating public education. And that means double trouble for the nation’s two largest teacher unions, the American Federation of Teachers (where I work) and the National Education Association.
The Walton Family Foundation and a host of other right-wing groups have spent millions bashing public schools. Their motivations vary. For some, it is the desire for more money. One provision of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, supplemental educational services, has the potential to steer billions of tax dollars annually to the private sector. For others, it’s about power. Weakening public schools weakens unions, and, if unions are weaker, corporate power is unchecked. For still others, who sneer at "government schools," it’s an all-out ideological war.
There is more background worth reading. See provides a lot of statistics to show the nature of the problem. He then offers the following:
When it comes to schools, bad news sells. The worst part about the distortions about public education is that they make it more difficult to garner citizens’ support for what really needs to be done in our schools (and there is plenty of work to do). Unions have rolled up our sleeves and, in many cases, taken the lead in school improvement efforts. Our locals have moved away from the salary schedule toward more creative ways to improve teacher pay. We have fought for small classes and backed legislation to offer high-quality early childhood programs for needy children. We have established peer-review programs for evaluating new teachers that better—and tougher—than principals and district human resources departments.
At Yearly Kos, representatives from the NEA and AFT will discuss the attacks on teachers, unions and schools, corruption and cronyism in the Bush administration’s education policies and the prospects for congressional reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. We’ll also have author Linda Perlstein, who offers an intimate view of students, teachers and administrators at Tyler Heights Elementary School in Annapolis, Maryland.
By the way, Linda is the sister of well-known blogger Rick Perlstein, who is also a speaker at Yearlykos, making them, along with the Atkins brothers (hekebolos and thereisnospoon) the only sets of siblings as guest speakers.
After offering a quote from my diary on Linda's book, John concludes with his invitation:
Please join our discussion and find out how you can help expose ultra-conservative anti-worker, anti-public school Astroturf campaigns, fight the corporatization of public education and support federal education policies that put children first.
As a result of correspondence with Tula, I can also report that, in addition to Linda Perlstein, Chuck Porcari, director of AFT Public Affairs and John See, AFT Associate Directorof Public Affairs will be there as well as Joel Packer, Director of Educational Policy and Practice at the NEA.
Let me offer a few remarks about how important this session is. First, from the standpoint of Yearlykos, both the NEA and AFT are sponsors. Second, they are among the most important unions to the backing of progressive causes and Democratic candidates. I am proud to be a long-time member of the NEA, having served as a building representative and also having presented at my statewide (Maryland) teachers' convention in 2005. Relations and cooperation between the two unions has been increasing - thus you may remember that at the request of AFT I did a diary on their very important report on the decrepit condition of American school in my diary Raw sewage, mold , and mice droppings. I also note that Ed Muir of the AFT research staff participated in the drafting of the Education Uprising: Educating for Democracy "plan."
Of greater importance - the attack on public schools, for which NCLB has unfortunately served as a weapon, is also intended to delegitimize teachers' unions, if possible to break them. It is intended to deprive progressives and Democrats of a large group of educated, articulate people, most of whom oppose the move towards privatization of essential government services, reaching far beyond schools.
I have my disagreements with the leadership of the unions on some issues. But I do not doubt the commitment of the leadership to provide a better education for all of America's children. Too often, the only voices that really speak for the needs of children are those of teachers, and absent unions teachers can be bullied, their voices suppressed, and children subject to indoctrination.
This session is critical not only to those of us who care about the future of public education, but to anyone who cares about the future rights of unionized workers, and the future of public services of all kinds. If the rightwing can succeed in delegitimizing teachers unions, no one will be safe.
I urge you to consider attending this session. I plan to be there. And I hope I will see you.
Peace.