Tuesday, October 2, 2012

A Call to Reclaim the Banner of Reform - Bridging Differences - Education Week

A Call to Reclaim the Banner of Reform - Bridging Differences - Education Week:


A Call to Reclaim the Banner of Reform

My Dear Deb,
While I appreciate a good debate I can't let you put me in the position of being regarded as anti-teacher or anti anti-teacher union. I have too long a history of defending teachers and their unions in print, in speech, and in action. I have also written about the role of teachers in school reform, and I have nothing but praise for the Chicago Teachers Union. I know that like the United Federation of Teachers in New York, they are the only groups that have been able to stop the dangerous push by so-called reformers to dismantle and privatize public education.
School closures, the increasingly preferred strategy of reform endorsed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has had a disastrous impact on low-income communities of color, depriving these communities access to schools that should serve as an anchor to community development. These reformers never ask why their reforms have failed