Aggressive public relations campaign amplifies courtroom battle against teacher work rules
The potentially game-changing Vergara v. California lawsuit, which attacks key aspects of California law on how teachers are evaluated and fired, opened in Los Angeles last week and has been accompanied by an aggressive public relations campaign unmatched by the opposing side – the State of California and its teachers unions.
The campaign seems designed to make sure that the explosive issues being raised regarding teachers’ job security in California ripple far beyond a cramped courtroom in Los Angeles and help shape public opinion across the state and nation.
Remarkably, this one-sided communications war has been initiated by a single person – Silicon Valley entrepreneur David Welch, the founder of the nonprofit organization Students Matter, which brought the suit – and provides a case study of what impact a single individual can have if he has the resources, or access to them, to take action based on his beliefs.
California Teachers Association President Dean Vogel says his organization, representing more than 300,000 teachers, has no intention of trying to counteract what he described as a campaign funded
Should “data literacy” be part of teacher licensure?
A Data-Rich Year – Infographic by the Data Quality Campaign Data is a hot topic in education. In 2009, under Race to the Top, all 50 states committed to creating data systems with 12 key elements. These included tracking each student by a unique statewide identifier, and seeing what happens when they leave school: do they graduate? Enroll in college? Do they need remedial classes in college? In 20