Responding to The New York Times and Corporate Reform Bias
Tuesday, The New York Times published an article about a teacher named Samantha Sherwood. Ms. Sherwood entered teaching through Teach for America and is currently in her third year of teaching middle school science in the South Bronx. Unfortunately, as a result of Bloomberg's budget cuts, she may lose her job this year.
The author of the Times article, Fernanda Santos, takes quite the liking to Sherwood. We're informed that Sherwood's idealism and commitment are exemplary. She works on Saturdays, has taken the lead in revamping the school's science curriculum, and has received nothing but satisfactory reviews. Her teaching style involves a "mix of drilled discipline and freedom to be creative." Sherwood makes impressive pledges to her students, and presumably follows through with them. Most impressively, Sherwood has the capacity to say really indie-educator type things that fit nicely into inspirational teacher articles: "We have to let children explore the beauty of what they're learning, not spoon-feed knowledge they're supposed to memorize." We're left with little doubt that Sherwood is indeed the kind of teacher any parent would want in front of their student.
Despite Sherwood's talent in the classroom, the relative short amount of time she's been employed as a teacher in New York City may mean her position may be among those lost to layoffs, a practice pejoratively referred to as last in, first out, or LIFO. Sherwood thinks this practice is unfair. She believes many experienced teachers
The author of the Times article, Fernanda Santos, takes quite the liking to Sherwood. We're informed that Sherwood's idealism and commitment are exemplary. She works on Saturdays, has taken the lead in revamping the school's science curriculum, and has received nothing but satisfactory reviews. Her teaching style involves a "mix of drilled discipline and freedom to be creative." Sherwood makes impressive pledges to her students, and presumably follows through with them. Most impressively, Sherwood has the capacity to say really indie-educator type things that fit nicely into inspirational teacher articles: "We have to let children explore the beauty of what they're learning, not spoon-feed knowledge they're supposed to memorize." We're left with little doubt that Sherwood is indeed the kind of teacher any parent would want in front of their student.
Despite Sherwood's talent in the classroom, the relative short amount of time she's been employed as a teacher in New York City may mean her position may be among those lost to layoffs, a practice pejoratively referred to as last in, first out, or LIFO. Sherwood thinks this practice is unfair. She believes many experienced teachers