Teachers are fighting the privatization wave by connecting with families right where they live.
Teachers have always held a cherished role in our society - recognized as professionals who know how to inculcate a love of learning in our children. But the "education reform" movement represented by No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top blames teachers for the problems in our public schools.
"The people who seek to privatize the public sector are looking for any excuse to criticize teachers," says Bob Peterson, veteran fifth-grade teacher and president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association (MTEA). "We must take responsibility for our profession. If we don't step up to the plate, public education is going to be destroyed."
At heart, this is a debate between competing visions of teachers' roles in public education in America. Teachers, through their unions, are defending the idea that they are best-equipped to teach children to become lifelong learners. Education "reformers," though, cite studies - such as one from the Goldwater Institute from 2004 - that show that students at privately run charter schools outperform kids in public schools and say that public education would improve if public schools simply looked more like privately run schools.
