Friday, September 14, 2012

Schools Matter: A Letter from an Art Teacher You Won't Forget

Schools Matter: A Letter from an Art Teacher You Won't Forget:


A Letter from an Art Teacher You Won't Forget

by art teacher, Brandi Martin from 2011:



Truth in Advertising, originally uploaded by elephantsgerald.
Dear twitter users boiling with anger about forced subsidization of unionized teachers:

I've taught art for seventeen years. I've complained about certain things at work, but I've never regretted my profession. We all knew what we were signing up for when we chose our jobs; I knew I wouldn't get rich, but I knew I'd have summers off, and a steady paycheck. So did you, actually. The summer thing is an antiquated agrarian anachronism, (read, not new), so please don't act outraged at this fresh new insult. If you became a 

Education "Reformers" Have Evidence Problem

When Anthony Cody ventured into a back-and-forth with the Gates Foundation (GF) at his Living in Dialogue blog (Education Week), I was more than skeptical and trapped between my respect and friendship with Anthony and my public stances against seeking a place at the table with corporate reformers such as the GF.

Something significant, however, now exists regarding the corporate reform agenda and the narratives those reformers create around that agenda because the dialogue presents us with a clear testament to the evidence problem confronting the corporate reform movement, including the GF, Arne Duncan and Obama, Michelle Rhee, and political leaders across the country.

Consider the exchanges below and note that Cody disproportionately offers detailed and evidence-based positions while the GF relies disproportionately on ideology, mythology, and not-so-subtle (and unwarranted) digs at Cody's integrity:

Cody

(1) Dialogue With the Gates Foundation: How Do We Build the Teaching Profession?
(2)