Wife of teacher to Obama: ‘please stop this runaway reform now’

[Chiquitita]

Here’s an open letter that the wife of a public school teacher in Georgia wrote to President Obama about the reality in her husband’s school.


Dear President and Mrs. Obama,

After hearing of the White House’s recent College Opportunity Summit, I wanted to share the story of a student in my husband’s second-grade class.

This student and her classmates, despite their daily challenges surviving the widespread poverty of rural Georgia, are doing their very best to learn. Their school is cheerful, but some kids suffer critical emotional distress from life conditions created by years of economic and social oppression. Still, they are almost all at grade level. Javier has poured in all of his caring and expertise to help them achieve this.
...
That’s the back story to Tanesha’s access to education: the fight dedicated educators are currently losing against the competitive corporate models colonizing K-12 schools, robbing them of their autonomy, and attacking teachers’ vocational identity and their historic civic role.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/02/07/wife-of-teacher-to-obama-please-stop-this-runaway-reform-now/

[ccinamon]

1. Dear Wife of Georgia Teacher....

Have you voted in the last 30 years? If so, for which political party have most of your votes been for?

If you haven't voted, why not?

If you haven't been voting, or if you have voted for Republicans, than you are reaping the results of your poor decision. Maybe some research before voting is in order, yes?

Sincerely,
Someone who has lived in the south for the last 40 years

On edit: (Yes I read the article, Yes I know Race to the Top was created under Obama,,,,however, it was to replace Bush's policy and if I recall correctly, needed some Republican votes)

[Chiquitita]

2. I've voted for democrats in Georgia since I moved here.

Before that I voted for them in Wisconsin. The letter is mine. And as I say there, I voted for Pres. Obama twice. He isn't infallible on Education policy.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. It's a great letter, thanks for writing it and posting it here.

nt

[Chiquitita]

16. Thanks. I think the previous poster just feels frustration

With politics in the south. I appreciate you reading the letter, and I feel happy with most of the comments in Post from teachers saying they identify with my husband's experience.

[questionseverything]

20. common core and it's testing seems to be the problem

if I understand it correctly my kindergartener will be expected by the end of the year to read a sight word book and then write three sentences about it, with proper caps, punctuation and spelling....and then 92% have to be able to do this for the class to pass?

it sets them up to fail

the teachers know it is not a reasonable goal, the school district knows it is not reasonable, the state says the feds forced it on us and the feds say, "accountability"

many of us support teachers and see this as nothing but a move to defund the public school system

[Chiquitita]

21. I'm worried about our kids' creativity.

What sort of memories of kindergarten will this give them ?

[questionseverything]

26. i worry about creativity, independant thought ,losing a lifetime

love of learning if they are pushed too hard, too early

my third grader when in kindergarten wrote in a little journal everyday but we did not do any correcting, it was only to get them used to the idea....4 years later and this is a massive change

I have to wonder does anyone in a position of power actually read the tests and know what they are asking of the kids?

[Chiquitita]

31. Will you post

This comment on the WaPo site? More people should see it!

[rhett o rick]

3. So you are saying that the fault is most likely her own. nm

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Arne Duncan- who appointed him?

Who lets him keep his job. I know, the buck stops over there somewhere.

[DeSwiss]

7. If jumping to assumptions ever becomes an Olympic sport, you'll be a shoe-in for the gold. :-/ n/t

[adirondacker]

9. DUzy!

[JoeyT]

13. So it's her fault for voting for Democrats?

Because that's whose disastrous policy this is. We can't pin this one on Bush.

What a silly argument.

[Doctor_J]

27. dear moron. she votes for democrats, just like everyone at du.

That includes the resident of the white house, who is 100% behind the destruction of public education. That sort of renders your entire post nothing more than a BOG screed.

[yurbud]

35. Obama has whole-heartedly embraced corrupt conservative education reform

and he can't blame that on Republicans--they didn't pick his secretary of education or force both to advocate privatization, repetitive standardized testing, and busting teachers' unions.

[Laelth]

4. Good letter. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[Chiquitita]

24. Thanks.

[wcast]

5. I would rec this a thousand times over if I could!!

What other business is run by those who knows nothing about it? Unlike republicans who can only blindly support their leaders, I have no problem saying I voted for Obama and what he has done, but don't agree at all with his education policy. Of course, here in PA, over 40% of our teachers voted for Corbett. Hopefully our Democratic leaders stop believing the lies, but I don't hold out much hope. As long as Arne Duncan is in charge, it is clear how the President views teachers.

[Chiquitita]

17. Your words mean a lot

Please share it with teacher friends you have.

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

8. Excellent letter.

I couldn't read all of it. It brought back so many horrible memories of predator administrators. There is no way to justify the destruction of public schools.

Schools are not (now) healthy for children or other living things.

(For you young ones, that is an adaptation of an antiwar poster from the sixties; War is not healthy for children and other living things.)

[Chiquitita]

18. It's funny how administrators are

Almost never blamed by the public. Only teachers. I guess the average person isn't familiar with how schools work.

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

19. I had my best principal, out of seven, when I left.

She tried to protect us from the clipboard attackers. It's coming down from much higher than school level admins. Houston's superintendent fussed at his principals because there was only an 11% teacher turn over rate. He wanted 30% like the charter schools. He's probably happier now.

[Chiquitita]

22. Why would they want more turnover?

To bring in less experienced teachers?

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

30. 30% turnover is crisis mode.

No parent with possibilities would place their child where there is that high of a turn over rate. It spells disaster for a school. And yet that is want the superintendent states he wants. They want to get rid of experienced teachers who cost more and are willing to fight for what is right. They want young, scared, pliable teachers that leave after a few years. That way there is no retirement costs. But it's more than that. To force such disastrous policies is to force failure of the schools. Then they can "save" the school with privatization and make money. Making money is the end game. Most of the "reformers" are connected to computer companies. I don't think they will be happy until a "teacher" is a minimum wage worker watching fifty students on computers.

[Chiquitita]

32. This powerful

And it explains a lot. Will you post it in the comments on the WaPo site?

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

33. Just for you; done.

[Chiquitita]

34. Wonderful! I hope lots of

People read it. Thanks.

[Thespian2]

10. Thank you

for an excellent letter that clearly exposes what is wrong with American education. I am a retired teacher. Taught in Georgia, Florida, Texas, and North Carolina. We worked hard, as your husband does, to assure a quality education for our students. Beginning in the 80's, Republicans began trying to destroy school systems across America. In the 90's, NC Governor Hunt balanced the state budget for four years by not raising teachers' pay and cutting back on education. He was a Democrat or so he claimed. Almost everything that current leaders (Obama and Duncan) have done for education is to continue to destroy it (charter schools, testing, etc). Education is now simply another way for corporations to rob taxpayers of what little money they have left. It is a miracle that any child in America gets a quality education. Of course, that happens only when they are lucky enough to have a committed teacher like your husband.

[Chiquitita]

11. My husband thanks you!

I just read your post to him.

[yurbud]

12. words that should be in title: corrupt and corporate. "reform" should be in quotation marks

It has nothing to do with reform. It's all about diverting tax dollars we want to go to education into the pockets of the already wealthy instead.

Obama is beating the crap out of public school teachers on the orders of the very wealthy and he's smart enough to know that's exactly what he's doing.

[Chiquitita]

25. Well put.

[blkmusclmachine]

14. Looks like Obama has his marching orders. Public schools are OUT, and Corporate schools are IN.

[Chiquitita]

23. Someone in the comments

Mentioned that maybe it was a trade off for healthcare.

[Doctor_J]

28. trade off? we got corporate healthcare AND corporate schools.

Calling the president a democrat is a joke

[Smarmie Doofus]

29. Obama Does Not Believe There Are Actually People Like This In The World:

>>> He is intrinsically motivated, and does not respond to the financial incentives that stimulate business leaders. >>>>>

Nor do other corporate school invaders. THEY don't think that way so they think that NO ONE thinks that way.

Hence the continuing disconnect.

What we have here ( among other things) is failure to communicate.