History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
The "bad teacher" bogeyman and its consequences
- 01-03-2011
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Guest blog by Anthony Cody/Washington Post
In the narrative being driven by "education reformers," the "bad teacher" has emerged as the greatest threat to our future. This threat is being used to justify a wholesale attack on the teaching profession. With our rights and even the institution of public education in danger, why have teachers been so slow to respond? Educators are unlikely warriors. In our classrooms we depend on the authority of the school as we exert our own authority to maintain order. Accustomed to our place in the hierarchy, we serve "under" the supervision of our principals, as our students work under our supervision. This deference to authority is perhaps one reason teachers have been so slow to understand the systematic attacks we face as a profession. But make no mistake, our profession, our retirement funds, our schools, even the classrooms in which we teach -- all are under a systemic and coordinated attack.In the next 12 months we are likely to see: * Class sizes increase dramatically * More public dollars going to privately managed charter schools * Teacher retirement funds attacked as being overly generous * Due process for teachers done away with in order to get rid of "bad teachers." * Seniority eliminated since expensive experienced teachers do not raise test scores any more than novices proficient at test preparation. But our foes will never admit they are attacking us (more…)
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