The War on Teachers: Why USA's Shrinking Middle Class and Battered Working Class Is Eating Its Own

The War on Teachers: Why America’s Shrinking Middle Class and Battered Working Class Is Eating Its Own And What Can Be Done About it.

All over the nation, teachers are under attack. Politicians of both parties, in every state in the union, have blamed teachers and teachers unions for the nation’s low standing in international tests, and our nation’s inability to create the educated labor force our economy needs. Mass firing of teachers in so called failing schools has taken place in municipalities throughout the nation and some states have made a public ritual of teacher’s humiliation. In Los Angeles and New York, wildly inaccurate teacher ratings based on student test scores have been published by the press, leading to some those cities best teachers being attacked as incompetent, resulting in resignations, and one actually suicide among those defamed by this campaign. Big budget films such as “Bad Teacher” and the documentary “Waiting For Superman” popularize the idea that public school teachers prevent poor children of color from getting a good education; while corporate funded organizations such as “Children First,” and “Stand For Children” put forth the idea that teachers must work in fear of firing or loss of pay if children are to excel. It is no accident that teachers all over the country are thinking of leaving their jobs. A recent student showed that teacher morale in the country is the lowest it has been in the last twenty years

One question we must ask is why this campaign has acquired such strong bipartisan support and why the public has not spoken out more against it. It is true that attacks on teachers have occurred in the midst of a broad based attack on the bargaining rights and benefits of all public workers, but even by that standard ,teachers have been singled out. In New York State, where teacher evaluations were just released to the press, the State Legislature just passed, and the Governor signed a bill which exempted police and firefighters from having their evaluations released to the public. Nothing better symbolizes the way teachers have become “fair game” for public demonization in ways that will make talented people think once, twice and three times, not only about entering teaching, but about remaining in the field. Needless to say, it also fosters an atmosphere of skepticism, disrespect and hostility on the part of parents and students that will not contribute to a good learning atmosphere in what will remains of the public schools

I can understand why corporate America would want to make teachers scapegoats for an attack on public education and teachers unions; there are huge profits to be made in the testing industry, in educational technologies which replace teachers, and in constructing and managing charter schools

But why are so many parents and the general public buying into this campaign and cheering it on! After all, politicians wouldn’t be bashing teachers if they didn’t think it would get votes, no matter how much money they were getting from the testing companies!

more . . . http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com/2012/03/war-on-teachers-why-americas-shrinking.html