The buzz of this movie was out in the ether this summer. I knew I had heard Oprah was going to ... do something.
The end of August was CRAZY. Aside from getting my room back together after it being used for summer school, aside from some contentious contract negotiations between the Seattle Education Association and the Gates-Walmart-Broad Superintendent (and her rubber stamp Seattle school board), I had to get ready for all new kids!
A few weeks back I was clicking through the channels after work, surfing along, and saw my ex-Bloated-Ego-Boss Bill Gates sitting on a couch with Michelle Rhee of Washington D.C. fame, right next to Oprah, doing the Arne and trashing teachers.
There is a leaflet I made about this blame the teacher crap, and which is below, and which I've handed out at various community/political events here in Seattle.
I'll tell you 1 (ONE) thing which makes "sense" about the teacher bashing going on.
When you consider how the AHIP & Pharma & Medical Industrial Complex have f'ed up health care to rip us all off AND none of the bosses are held accountable, when you consider how the Banksters of GWB-Cheney Geithner Bernanke Summers Rubin completely ripped off the econonmy and hurt millions AND none of the bosses are held accountable -
then it makes "sense" to BLAME teachers for the indefensible messes and the unjustifiable messes that the bosses of education have allowed to fester!
++++++++++
++++++++++
WAITING FOR GUFF-STUPOR-SUPERMAN ??
WHO IS AGAINST MOM APPLE PIE KIDS ?
The people marketing this movie are for kids!
The people pushing this movie’s education solutions are for kids!
People who disagree with the movie’s solutions are AGAINST kids...?
IN THE CLASSROOM, SKILLED TEACHERS MATTER!
Each of my kids is in 1 of my classes for 50 minutes.
Each of my kids is in 6 classes a day. 6*50 = 300.
There are 60*24 = 1440 minutes in a day.
I have 50 / 1440 minutes. We teachers have 300 / 1440.
OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM, TEACHERS DO NOT CONTROL OUR STUDENTS!
We teachers do NOT control the other 1140 minutes in a day!
A prep school I attended as junior in high school (Northfield Mount Hermon - in 1976-77) recommends 90 minutes a day of study just for Advanced Placement Calculus. http://www.nmhschool.org/...
Who controls how student time outside of class is spent?
OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM, WHO CONTROLS EDUCATION SYSTEMS? TEACHERS?
It is NOT classroom teachers who decide how the ½ billion dollars for Seattle Schools is spent! We don’t decide how the tens of billions in the state of Washington are spent! We don’t decide how the hundred of billions in the United States is spent! Don’t the bosses decide? Don’t the Big $hot$ decide?
Why are classroom teachers the focus of the blame for systemic failures by Big $hot$?
WHO ARE THE BIG SHOT$ MAKING DECISIONS? ARE YOU A BIG $HOT?
From the Statistical Abstract of The United States, 2010, table 686, "Money Income of People ... 2007" .
There were appx. 238,000,000 men and women with Money Income.
There were appx. 23,976,000 with Money Income over $75,000.
There were appx. 214,172,000 with Money Income UNDER $75,000.
There were appx. 187,136,000 with Money Income UNDER $50,000.
From Table 677, there were 116,783,000 Households with Money Income in 2007, And appx. 9,372,000 of those households had OVER $150,000 in Money Income. How many teachers and how many Big $hot$ live on over 150k?
WHO decides how hundred$ of million$ and hundred$ of billion$ are $pent every year?
The Big $hot Cla$$ isn’t my $ocial cla$$!
WHO ARE THE PEOPLE INFLUENCING EDUCATION POLICY – THE DECI$ION$ OF THE BIG $HOT$ $OCIAL CLA$$? (Hint - CON$ultant$)
According to Arne Duncan, there are appx. 1450 School, Colleges and Departments of Education in the United States. http://www.ed.gov/...
In Seattle, Bill Gates’ foundations are paying the salaries of the Alliance For Education, the League of Education Voters, Stand for Children, Partnership For Learning ...
http://seattleducation2010.wordpress...
Maybe these education policy people work with the Big $hot$ - they’re not in my classroom and they’re not in my building. When it comes to pay, I have a hunch that the education policy cla$$ is clo$er in $alary to the Big $hot Cla$$ than the teachers, janitors, cooks, secretaries ...
The education policy cla$$ isn’t my $ocial cla$$.
WHO IS IN THE SCHOOLS, WHO IS IN THE CLASSROOMS, AND WHO IS HELPING OUR KIDS? (Hint – Teachers, Principals, Janitors, Secretaries ...)
In my 5 years of teaching math at Franklin High School, I haven’t had any Big $hot$ or any education policy experts in my classroom or my school building helping my kids and our kids.
I do NOT expect Big $hot$ or CON$ultant$ in my class or in my school – I expect them to run the systems effectively! I don’t expect them to blame me for systemic failures!
WHY DON’T THE BIG $HOT MANAGER$ AND CON$ultant$ TEACH OUR KIDS HOW TO MANAGE COMUNITTY RESOURCES?
How to invest today to create family wage jobs, family income security, family health security and family retirement security?
Because it is NOT what American Big $hot Manager$ and CON$ultant$ do?
I’m 50 ... I haven’t seen it since the election of Ronnie Raygun when I was 20 in 1980.
WHY DON’T THE BIG $HOT MANAGER$ AND CON$ultant$ TEACH OUR KIDS HOW TO ACCEPT REPSONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILTY FOR SYSTEMIC FAILURE?
Because it is NOT what American Big $hot Manager$ and CON$ultant$ do?
Because this glib slick marketing of failure isn’t about Superman, it is a "Christmas Vacation" fantasy, and we’re all just a bunch of Cousin Eddies to the high flying yuppies Margo & Todd?
WHY DO BIG $HOT$ AND CON$ultant$ BLAME Teachers, Principals, Janitors, Secretaries... for SYSTEMIC FAILURE!
Because "truth, justice and the American way" is to blame the underlings!