“Talking Crap” Focus on Teacher Bathroom Breaks Misses the Point on Problems Impacting Teachers
By Yohuru Williams and Steven Singer
Nearly 18 years ago in his 1997 State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton urged Americans to prioritize education. He suggested beginning with building respect for the teaching profession. To “have the best schools,” he observed, “we must have the best teachers.” He continued, “most of us in this chamber would not be here tonight without the help of those teachers.”
Despite Clinton’s eloquence, respect for the teaching profession steadily declined due primarily to a narrative of failure constructed by the proponents of corporate education reform. They consistently blame the power of teachers’ unions andteacher tenure for society’s woes. They use both as a justification to construct amulti-billion dollar industry to standardize and privatize our public schools.
For the most part, the mainstream media has been reluctant to challenge this narrative and point to the real obstacles that exist for teachers. Such is the case with a recent article in The Atlantic by Alia Wong entitled “Using the Restroom – a Privilege If You’re a Teacher” that completely misses the point of a recent surveyhighlighting some of the substantive issues facing the nation’s teachers.
Tens of thousands of professionals responded to the 2015 survey. The survey was conducted collaboratively by two groups: the Badass Teachers Association, a grassroots network of more than 55,000 educators, parents and students and theAmerican Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second largest teachers union. The survey yielded shocking results that powerfully illustrate the collateral damage of the “test and punish” environment engulfing public education. This includes such serious allegations regarding workplace conditions that it prompted a meeting between the authors and the U.S. Department of Education. A team of educators working with both BATS and the AFT launched the 80 plus question survey in April. Some 91,000 public school teachers responded and 31,000 completed the survey. The unprecedented response revealed that there are indeed major problems with our current education policy and its impact on education practitioners.
Perhaps, the most startling revelation involved the numbers of teachers and administrators who committed suicide due to bullying and abuses stemming from “Talking Crap” Focus on Teacher Bathroom Breaks Misses the Point on Problems Impacting Teachers | gadflyonthewallblog:
