One AFT Meeting But Two Takes, Welcome To Ed’s Absurdity Mr. Foxman, A Kingsland Must-Read, Plus More Algebra

Last week Reuters ran an account of the evolution of the American Federation of Teachers that read in places like a dispatch from opposite land.  This week Ed Week’s Seriously Savvy Sawchuk turns in a must-read take on where things stand.

Abraham Foxman gets a taste of just how bizarre education debates are.   A lot of ink or pixels spilled on this algebra question but Ryan Hall’s view worth checking out.

Neerav Kingsland with the kind of conversation we should be having about charter schools (and schools more generally). Also a must-read. Note – Bellwether works with NSNO.

4 Replies to “One AFT Meeting But Two Takes, Welcome To Ed’s Absurdity Mr. Foxman, A Kingsland Must-Read, Plus More Algebra”

  1. So another Campbell Brown story but still no evidence from Andy.
    Your behaviour is disgusting, but totally in line with Michelle Rhee and other “deformers.”

  2. About the Sawchuck piece: “Though the AFT has, in recent years, been viewed as the less militant of the two national teachers’ unions, its delegates spoke forcefully against attacks on unions that have been couched in the guise of education reform, took a stand against the high-stakes use of standardized testing, and passed a “solidarity pledge” on behalf of local affiliates it asserts have been subject to unjust bargaining situations.” Really?

    “Has been viewed as less militant” by whom, exactly? The author couldn’t be bothered to say, so the statement just sits there trying to created its own credibility. Listen, Sawchuck, militant ain’t the NEA. Militant is the Black Panthers. OK? The NEA can barely get up off the mat after years of pummeling by much more powerful interests with more effective propaganda, er, messaging.

    As for Brown, it takes a lot of gall on her part to accuse the NYT AFT of over-the-top language when she was the one who leveled the most heinous of charges at the unions. Nice try, false equivalency FAIL.

    This was curious from the New Orleans piece: “Absolute achievement levels remain very low, but so long as we continue to open and close charter schools, we will continue to increase the quality of the education we provide to New Orleans students.”

    1) NO is supposed to be the darling of the charter world but not doing that well, after all I guess.
    2) It is easier to close a charter school than deal with the systemic issues in the community. At least with public schools, you could try to work the political process and bring multiple actors to the table for accountability.
    3) Charters are experiments. Experiments. With human children. School gone bad? Ah, just close it down, start over, rinse, repeat. Does Bellwether condone the use of children in human social experiments?

  3. Hey jeffreymiller, while Andy referred to Sawchuck as “Seriously Savvy Sawchuck” at least he didn’t refer to his essay as “smart”.

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