Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The Opt-Out Update: The AFT finally pushes back, “Rigor” in Portland, WA State, Alabama and New York fight back | Seattle Education

The Opt-Out Update: The AFT finally pushes back, “Rigor” in Portland, WA State, Alabama and New York fight back | Seattle Education:



The Opt-Out Update: The AFT finally pushes back, “Rigor” in Portland, WA State, Alabama and New York fight back

Opt out postcard
It looks like teachers and the teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), have FINALLY smelled the coffee and decided to push back.
The American Federation of Teachers, New York State United Teachers and the Alliance for Quality Education got together and put up a website titled Democrats, in name only, for Education Reform.
They nicely connected some of the dots in an easy to understand graphic that’s visually pleasing.
This is the first paragraph:
What is Democrats for Education Reform?
Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) is an education privatization groupstarted by hedge fund managers who wanted to influence Democrats’ education policies just as the Wal-Mart family had influenced Republicans’. In the words of one of DFER’s founders, in order to get Democrats to emulate Republicans on education, it would have to be an “inside job,” and they needed a group that would be named Democrats for Education Reform.
It’s definitely worth checking out and sharing.
Parents have been pushing back from the beginning of the drive for privatization of our public school system. We lost some battles and we have won some. If we, as parents, unite with teachers, students and concerned citizens in fighting back, we will win the war. What is important is when the smoke clears, we will have solidarity and therefore the ability to decide how best to educate our children, all children.