DC Teachers Unions Protests The Washington Post

[Hannah Bell]

Approximately 300 teachers, school personnel, city workers, union and community members protested outside The Washington Post building on Friday, April 15. This day was selected because it coincided with a day-off furlough for DC public Schools employees and DC government workers. The protest was organized by Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) against the Post due to their biased reporting that consistently vilifies DC public school teachers and fails to include more balanced reporting of the obstacles teachers face in a mostly urban school district. According to WTU President, Nathan Saunders: “You’ve got to understand that the Washington Post has been vicious against, not just teachers unions, but the Washington Teachers Union in particular, for the last three or four years,” he said. “And everything that the former chancellor, Michelle Rhee, has done in the district, they have embraced wholeheartedly at the expense of working teachers.”

Many people in DC believe that the Post intentionally fails to cover education stories like the recent coverage by USA TODAY newspaper’s investigative report on high erasure rates on standardized tests in DC Public Schools. This piece found that DCPS likely cheated under the Rhee/Henderson administration.

Another reason for Friday’s protest was to call attention to the Washington Post’s relationship with Kaplan testing company which accounts for the majority of their revenue. In the eyes of the WTU, the Post fails to adequately cover education reform from all vantage points, fails to print letters to the editor from education stakeholders, colors their editorial viewpoint and heaped undeserving praise on former Chancellor Michelle Rhee during her term in DCPS despite her many transgressions.

http://thewashingtonteacher.blogspot.com/2011/04/wtu-protests-washington-post.html

I will add that warren (gates foundation) buffett owns a big chunk of the WAPO & that until recently melinda gates sat on its board. she resigned when conflict of interest was alleged.

[Festivito]

1. "reporting that consistently vilifies DC public school teachers"

It's not just the Washington Post, and not just DC teachers.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. True 'dat. "...many of the nation's billionaires are on the warpath."

The WP vs. teachers union is but one skirmish.

>>>Mr. President, there is a war going on in this country, and I am not referring to the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan, I am talking about a war being waged by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country against the working families of the United States of America, against the disappearing and shrinking middle class in our country. The reality is that many of the nation’s billionaires are on the war path. They want more, more, more. Their greed has no end and apparently there is very little concern for our country or for the people of this country if it gets in the way of the accumulation of more and more wealth and more and more power.>>>

Senator Sanders, Dec. 2010

[Festivito]

4. And, we've fed their sickness of scared growth by not helping or curbing them.

They are sick. They need help. We need to give it.

[Starry Messenger]

3. k&r

[fortyfeetunder]

5. The irony of that April 15 date --

The day was named " DC Emancipation Day"

"This year, D.C. Emancipation Day officially falls on a Saturday but is being observed today, which is an unpaid furlough day instead of a paid holiday for D.C. government workers."

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2011/04/15/today-in-d-c-history-city-celebrates-emancipation-day/

[Overseas]

6. K&R and Many Thanks !

Glad they demanded more balanced reporting from the Washington Post.

[Brickbat]

7. K&R.

[Zax2me]

8. Sorry to hear this

The Post has more than one good writer on staff. Overall, they report well, relatively speaking.
It is no fox news.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. They've been demonizing teachers for years.

Sorry you haven't noticed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Excellent!!