The Perimeter Primate: Message for Vander Ark & the ed deform crowd

The Perimeter Primate: Message for Vander Ark & the ed deform crowd

Message for Vander Ark & the ed deform crowd

by The Perimeter Primate

Tom Vander Ark is a participant on the National Journal’s Education blog. Recently he posted a comment on Crist's veto of the Florida teacher bill (SB-6) and called it “Putting the Brakes on Progress.” The bill sought to tie 50% of a teacher’s evaluation and pay to test scores, and to make it easier for them to be fired.
As an ed defomer mouthpiece responding to a defeat, here’s Vander Ark description of what happened in Florida:“…despite overwhelming public, philanthropic, and federal support for teacher effectiveness, the brakes have been applied by well organized and funded forces protecting the status quo.” Funny how he can put a negative spin on people in a democracy organizing themselves for a cause they believe in.
Indeed, Florida’s resistance forces became well organized, but the movement didn’t turn into a flood of opposition because of money. This movement was generated at the grassroots level using online social networking tools. Anthony Cody described how it worked in “From Facebook to YouTube: A Teacher Movement is Born.”
The large response in Florida may be an indication that a major pushback to the ed deform movement is finally