Teachers

Teachers: How PARRC Testing Affects Our Classrooms

March 31, 2015 Valerie Strauss, www.washingtonpost.com Educate! Education, Teachers, Testing

We are teachers at Barbieri Elementary School who want to make clear what is happening in your children’s classrooms as a result of decisions made in offices far away. This year, 3rd-8th graders in Framingham Public Schools will be taking the test known as PARCC, which will be replacing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). PARCC was created by the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, one of two multi-state consortia given $360 million in federal funds to design new standardized tests to hold students, schools and teachers “accountable.”

Cuomo Protested Over Billionaire Backed Education Scheme

March 30, 2015 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Resist! Education, New York (NY), Student Activism, Teachers

The protest follows weeks of actions targeting the Cuomo administration as lawmakers weigh the governor's proposal to tie more than $1 billion in school aid to an overhaul of the teacher evaluation system, which places extra emphasis on standardized test scores. Hundreds of people rallied at the Albany Capitol on Thursday and last week teachers from upstate New York delivered the governor 1,000 apples—each representing "a local teaching position unfilled because of years of underfunding for public education." Groups say that the hedge fund and Wall Street billionaires, which "bought control over the New York State Senate this past election," are seeking to starve the public school system "through subsidies to private and parochial schools and through privately-run charter schools."

Teachers Poised To Strike, First Time In 26 Years

March 17, 2015 Mario Vasquez, www.inthesetimes.com Resist! Labor Unions, Los Angeles, Teachers

Los Angeles may be close to its first teachers strike in 26 years after its school district and the local teachers’ union declared that they would be unable to make progress on contract negotiations. Consequently, later this month California’s state labor board for public employees will be mediating between the two sides in the first of several sessions scheduled thus far. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), a union representing over 35,000 teachers in the area, is working under terms of a contract that expired in 2011 but still remains in effect. Negotiations for a new contract began last July upon the swearing-in of President Alex Caputo-Pearl.

How Teachers Unions Must Change — By A Union Leader

February 19, 2015 Bob Peterson, www.portside.org Strategize! Education, Labor Unions, Teachers

Our challenge in Milwaukee was to transform a staff-dominated, business/service-style teachers’ union into something quite different. The local had focused narrowly on contract bargaining and enforcement, with the staff playing the role of insurance agents who would intervene on members’ behalf to solve their problems—instead of helping members organize to solve their own problems. It was a codependent relationship—members didn’t have to do much more than make a call to have their problems taken care of, and staff didn’t have to go out to do the hard work of organizing members, except for occasional mobilizations at contract time. The importance of parent/community alliances was downplayed, and the union took the attitude that it was not their responsibility—but rather the administration’s—to ensure quality education.

Chicago Teachers Union Will Not Back Down, Challenges Governor

February 5, 2015 Juan Perez, Jr. www.chicagotribune.com Organize! Chicago, Education, Labor Unions, Privatization, Teachers

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis pilloried Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday and promised the CTU would not back down from Springfield or City Hall as it prepares demands for a new contract. "Bruce Rauner ran on a platform about nothing," Lewis said Monday at a City Club of Chicago luncheon. "He's wasted no time attacking the wages of working-class people, attacking their labor unions and threatening massive cuts to social service programs, which help the most vulnerable people in our state. "That is the real Bruce Rauner. He's not some easygoing, blue-jeans-wearing, $20-dollar-watch-having good guy who's coming to save the day. He is (Wisconsin Gov.) Scott Walker on steroids."

Court: SRC Had No Right To Cancel Teacher Contract

January 24, 2015 Kristin A. Graham, www.philly.com Educate! Education, Labor Unions, Philadelphia, Teachers

Commonwealth Court judges ruled Thursday that the School Reform Commission does not have the power to cancel union contracts, restoring health-care cuts that were to save the Philadelphia schools $54 million annually. The unanimous ruling appeared to strike down a core operating belief of the SRC. PFT president Jerry Jordan called the decision "a very big victory" that affirmed the union's position that contracts must be negotiated, not imposed, and that the state law that created the SRC did not give it the power to wipe away collective bargaining. Chairman Bill Green said that the SRC and its attorneys had not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling, but that some action could come next week.

No More Backroom Deals

November 20, 2014 Dan Clawson, www.jacobinmag.com Resist! Education, Labor Unions, Massachusetts, Teachers

To the causal observer, Massachusetts may seem like an unlikely place to open up a new front in the assault on teachers. The state has the highest test scores in the nation, and just this year the National Education Association named its chief executive “America’s Greatest Education Governor.” But on October 20, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) unveiled a draconian proposal that would tie teacher performance, narrowly defined, to teacher licensing. Thousands of educators knew an unmitigated attack when they saw one, and responded accordingly. Late last week, after a massive backlash organized by the Massachusetts Teachers Association — under the leadership of Barbara Madeloni, the recently elected president of the 113,000 member union — the proposal was withdrawn.

“Let Us Graduate!”: Garfield High School Walks Out On Budget Cuts

October 30, 2014 I Am An Educator, www.iamaneducator.com Resist! Education, Neo-Liberalism, Protest, Student Activism, Teachers

Seattle’s Garfield High School has once again moved into collective struggle!–and we may to find out today if one of us is to be displaced from the building or if the power of protest has kept us safe from the budget-cut ax for now. The Seattle School District announced on Friday, October 17, that Garfield High School would be forced to cut and transfer one teacher in a core subject area by Friday, October 24—or come up with $92,000. But on Thursday October 23, almost the entire building emptied in a mass walkout of students and educators against the budget cuts and has so far convinced the district to delay the cut. The morning of the walkout, one of my colleagues was in the middle of reading the list of grievances that the rebellious colonists proclaimed against the British in the Declaration of Independence. As he told it, the students didn’t yet grasp the world-historic nature of the defiant document and were slouching in their seats, somewhat uninterested.

Thousands Shut Down Broad Street In Philly School Protest

October 18, 2014 Kristen A. Graham and Aubrey Whelan, www.philly.com Resist! Education, Teachers

Furious over the Philadelphia School Reform Commission's move to unilaterally cancel its teachers' contract, 3,000 people shut down North Broad Street on Thursday, vowing more disruptive action if the panel's action is not undone. The eyes of the nation are on Philadelphia, said American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, in town for a massive rally held before an SRC meeting. "Philly is ground zero for injustice," Weingarten told the crowd of sign-waving teachers, counselors, nurses, and supporters. "The SRC has become a morally bankrupt institution." "We're not rolling over and we're not taking it," said Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

Badass Teacher Association (BAT) Takes Protest To Washington

July 29, 2014 Badass Teacher Association, www.badassteacher.org Organize! Education, Protest, Teachers

Badass Teacher Association (BAT): This association is for every teacher who refuses to be blamed for the failure of our society to erase poverty and inequality, and refuses to accept assessments, tests and evaluations imposed by those who have contempt for real teaching and learning… Join Us!! The BATs protested the devastating educational policies of the United States Department of Education and Arne Duncan today! The Rally lasted from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and drew over 550 teachers, parents, and educational activists from 38 states. BATs demanded such things as ending federal incentives to close and privatize schools, promote equity and adequate funding for all public schools, and ban all data sharing of children’s private information. BATs asked and were allowed to enter the USDOE at 3:30 to meet with the Civil Rights Department Senior Advisors. The BAT delegation included Tennessee BAT Larry Proffitt, Co-Founder of BAT Mark Naison, Connecticut BAT Yohuru Williams, New York BAT Marla Kilfoyle, Chicago parent activist Shoneice Reynolds, and Chicago student activist Asean Johnson.

Mass Public Sector Walk-Out In England

July 11, 2014 Natasha Culzac, www.independent.co.uk Resist! Education, Labor, Strike, Teachers, Unions, United Kingdom (UK)

Tens of thousands of teachers are walking out of the classroom today in protest against pay, workload pressures and pension changes as the Coalition government downplays the extent of the strike. As many as one million public sector workers are staging industrial action, with health workers and civil servants joining teachers in a mass demonstration against austerity measures. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) says more than 20,000 teachers could take part, with nationwide rallies and pickets planned for towns and cities ranging from Cambridge, Leicester, Swansea, Torquay and the Isle of Wight. The strike has been condemned by the Department of Education (DfE) as disrupting to pupils’ education and harming the reputation of the teaching profession, while the government said that it actually expects most schools to open their doors. A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “The vast majority of dedicated public sector workers did not vote for today's action, and early indications are that most are turning up for work as usual.

Will Teachers Union President Challenge Rahm?

June 28, 2014 Mary Ann Ahem, www.nbcchicago.com Organize! Chicago, Education, Elections, Teachers, Unions

Chicago Teacher's Union President Karen Lewis has met with election attorneys and is expected to make a final decision in August about whether she will challenge Rahm Emanuel for Mayor. A source close to Lewis said she's seriously considering a run. The Chicago mayoral election takes place February 2015. “Definitely, the talk of Lewis running is ramping up to a new rate of speed,” a political operative involved in past mayoral elections said. Chicago Public Schools' announcement Thursday of more than 1,000 layoffs, including 550 teachers, catches CTU off guard. “This decision further demonstrates the disdain for public education and the lack of leadership and vision for the city from our mayor and his hand picked Board," the union said in a statement. "Do we want 'Star Wars' museums or public, neighborhood schools? Do we want presidential libraries or librarians for every child?”

Teachers Protest Gates Foundation

June 28, 2014 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org Resist! Charter Schools, Education, Gates Foundation, Protest, Teachers

A group of teachers is holding a rally Thursday evening in Seattle to denounce education reform measures they say have been an attack on public education and let corporate interests and high-stakes testing trump real student learning. The target of their protest: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, whom the teachers say has used its monetary power to push corporate reforms and is symbolic of measures—like Common Core Standards and over-testing—that don't let educators be the decision makers of education policies. The action, organized by the BadAss Teachers (BATs) of Washington, whose vision is to "educate teachers, parents, students and communities on the long term consequences of current education reforms," begins with a rally and will lead to a march to the Gates Foundation headquarters. Julianna Dauble, full-time teacher in Renton, Washington and organizer of the action, told Common Dreams that the Gates Foundation "bought us Common Core," in addition to promoting other things like charter schools, increased testing and Race to the Top, without a democratic process that involves consulting teachers.

MA Teachers Go Radical In Fight For Public Ed

June 26, 2014 EduSchyster, www.edushyster.com Organize! Education, Labor, Teachers, Unions

EduShyster: I’ve heard you described as *bellicose,* *unapologetically adversarial,* a *firebrand,* and *alarming.* Which of these would you say best describes you? Barbara Madeloni: Aren’t you forgetting *shrill*? One of the narratives about my victory is that I accessed anger at the rank-and-file level. That’s true, but I also tried to hold up a more positive vision for re-engaging the world. We’re not helpless. We’re not hopeless. We can work together to change things. We can do something. That said, I think we are at a critical moment in history for public education in this country. If we don’t fight, we’re going to lose everything. We’re done. EduShyster: That’s what a lot of people have been saying about teachers unions in the wake of the recent Vergara decision in California—that they’re done. You don’t appear to have gotten that memo. Madeloni: This is a critical moment in our history and we have to protect public education or we’re going to lose it.

Chicago Teachers Assess The Damage Of Massive School Closings

May 29, 2014 Bruce A. Dixon, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Chicago, Privatization, Schools, Teachers, Unions

A couple years ago, we at Black Agenda Report wondered why the closings of 40 public schools over three years in Philly and 50 schools in Chicago were not national news. The answer of course, was that corporate media and politicians from Romney and Obama down to black mayors and state legislators agree that public education ought to be handed to business groups and charter schools even though privatization is enormously unpopular. The privatization of public schools is a public policy whose name is almost never spoken, and which is covered in the media as little as possible, and when some coverage is unavoidable, in misleading ways. “If CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News gave the school closings and privatization story a fraction of the coverage they gave deceptive and dishonest pro-privatization movies like Waiting For Superman and Won't Back Down, the outrage against the move to privatize education would be unstoppable.”

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