Frederick M. Hess's Blog
The NJEA's New Handbook: How To Lose Friends and Alienate People
by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 1, 2010 at 8:23 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
Cross-posted from Education Week
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The AFT and NEA might want to start rethinking their "we're special and should be protected from budget cuts because we're there for the kids" strategy. Kevin Manahan, of the Newark Star-Ledger editorial board, wrote a column last week suggesting that, at least in New Jersey, the union shtick has worn thin. His beat down of the New Jersey Education Association may serve as a useful cautionary flag for teachers unions across the land. (Just check out the raft of reader comments Manahan has attracted; a quick scan seems to suggest they're running strongly anti-union).
I'm not in the habit of telling anyone how to angle for a raise, but the unions might want to think about the risks of misplaying their hand and whether that will cost them crucial goodwill as states wrestle with tough budget choices in 2011 and beyond.
So what did Manahan have to say? He wrote: "In an astonishing fall from grace that has taken only months, [New Jersey's] teachers have gone from respected and beloved members of the community to some of the
Frederick M. Hess's Blog
The Limits of Cinematic Advocacy: Lessons from An Inconvenient Truth
by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 1, 2010 at 9:19 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
Cross-posted from Education Week
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I can't recall how many times over the years I've heard from school reformers, "We need our own An Inconvenient Truth." You know, a cinematic indictment of the educational status quo jarring enough to stir a lethargic public. Well, all of a sudden, we've got a whole bunch of them, and we're about to see how much they matter. A spate of three-hanky edu-movies are storming the landscape, with some heading to mainstream theaters near you--The Cartel, Waiting for Superman, and The Lottery.
Proponents hope that these flicks, which massively one-up Gore's 2006 magnum opus when it comes to raw sentiment, are finally going to awaken Americans to the villainy of the teachers unions and get them emotionally invested in school reform. The premise is that no one has ever told Americans, in sufficiently poignant and graphic terms, how bad urban schooling is or what should be done about it.
We're about to see how much difference these movies make. Me, I'm a skeptic. I'm doubtful that the message and getting people to sit for two hours of emotionally manipulative filmmaking really leads to changes in
