A Courageous Teacher
Idaho is ga-ga for computers and online learning. State Superintendent Tom Luna has made online learning the centerpiece of his “reform” agenda. Tom Luna has close ties to the for-profit online industry.
Teachers welcome computers and technology in the classroom, but Luna takes it to an extreme. He views technology as a cost-saving device, so he is (paradoxically) investing heavily in hardware and software, on the assumption that in time there will be need for fewer teachers. Teachers are an old-fashioned, expensive, near obsolete technology. Teachers need health care and pensions; computers don’t. Teachers are ornery and they often have thoughts that don’t coincide with the state’s agenda; computers don’t.
A veteran teacher decided that enough is enough. She did something she never dreamed she would do. She
Teachers welcome computers and technology in the classroom, but Luna takes it to an extreme. He views technology as a cost-saving device, so he is (paradoxically) investing heavily in hardware and software, on the assumption that in time there will be need for fewer teachers. Teachers are an old-fashioned, expensive, near obsolete technology. Teachers need health care and pensions; computers don’t. Teachers are ornery and they often have thoughts that don’t coincide with the state’s agenda; computers don’t.
A veteran teacher decided that enough is enough. She did something she never dreamed she would do. She
What Alabama Really Needs
Alabama is one of our poorest states. It has a large number of children living in poverty in urban areas but also in rural areas.
This past spring, there was a heavy-duty political effort to pass charter school legislation in Alabama. The effort failed, but is likely to be revived in the next session. Charter schools are supposed to raise test scores, and their promoters say that one day, with more and more charter schools and ever-higher test scores, there won’t be any poverty. Test scores are supposed to be the best antidote to poverty.
Not everyone believes that the world works that way. Not just because there are large numbers of college graduates who are unemployed and underemployed, but because poverty is a mass phenomenon in this country and will never be overcome simply by getting more students to learn how to pick the right bubble on a
This past spring, there was a heavy-duty political effort to pass charter school legislation in Alabama. The effort failed, but is likely to be revived in the next session. Charter schools are supposed to raise test scores, and their promoters say that one day, with more and more charter schools and ever-higher test scores, there won’t be any poverty. Test scores are supposed to be the best antidote to poverty.
Not everyone believes that the world works that way. Not just because there are large numbers of college graduates who are unemployed and underemployed, but because poverty is a mass phenomenon in this country and will never be overcome simply by getting more students to learn how to pick the right bubble on a
