tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post387355466919506837..comments2024-03-28T19:47:39.985-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Administrators Must ChoosePeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-45553512112830347582015-09-02T14:13:27.401-04:002015-09-02T14:13:27.401-04:00I wonder if electing Sanders would help at all wit...I wonder if electing Sanders would help at all with taking away power from the neoliberals.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-53511420900703243362015-09-02T10:10:33.931-04:002015-09-02T10:10:33.931-04:00Some state and local unions (the Chicago Teachers ...Some state and local unions (the Chicago Teachers Union, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, etc.) have become much more active and vocal. The CTU led a strike in 2012 after our state legislature passed a law requiring 75% authorization for a strike - they got over 90% authorization. Schools were closed for about a week and a half, they won significant concessions and they had community support, especially among Chicago Public School parents. But then Rahm Emanuel, being Rahm Emanuel, had to have the last word. Chicago got spanked hard with the closing of 50 schools and the resultant chaos and still hasn't recovered.<br /><br />Yes, the national unions need to step up (I don't think they're "intimidated" so much as "co-opted"). But everyone needs to understand that the neoliberal power brokers are playing for keeps. They have no problem issuing harmful, abusive policies if that's what they need to do to punish the Resistance.Diennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04570040547158789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-23759651516419838852015-09-02T08:29:16.378-04:002015-09-02T08:29:16.378-04:00Every thing you say is true, but it's also tru...Every thing you say is true, but it's also true that in a big district, principals have no more power than teachers. The principals are at the mercy of central administrators, and they're at the mercy of the state. The gears and wheels of the cumbersome bureaucracy move very slowly. Inertia is the reigning force. The new ESEA puts more power from the federal level back to the states, but the states are still caught in the test-and-punish-bring-in-charters net, which the reformsters are still pushing. This is especially true of red states, but then there's NY and Cuomo too. <br /><br />Because of the pushback from the Resistance, there's a lot more knowledge out there among parents and the public in general that present policy isn't working, is destructive, and has to change. The teachers unions have been intimidated by the neoliberal political powers that are setting policy. When's the last time there was a strike? In the 70's? When's the last time one was even talked about?<br /><br />How long is it going to take to turn the tide in policy? A lot probably depends on the next general elections. The priority has to change from test, punish, and charters-gone-wild to community neighborhood schools, local democratic empowerment, and policies to lift neighborhoods out of poverty. <br /><br />If it doesn't start to change soon, teachers unions have to take a stand on making the student learning environment the priority, before the Powers that Be won't care because they can replace us all with fast food workers. Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.com