While insanity has struck the governor in the state of Wisconsin, those supporting the middle class workers and the rights to collectively bargain rallied in the statehouse. 70,000 strong protested the governor’s and the House’s dishonesty.
And the Wisconsin governor does not have the full support of his Republican brethren in office.
Maybe this ridiculous effort in Wisconsin will alienate the union busters and actually harm the move to take away workers’ rights.
The more I watch the evening news or read magazines and newspapers, the less I feel valued. However, Diane Ravitch–who spoke to the NEA-RA last July and received a standing ovation–wrote a response to her original article on CNN this week.
Sometimes I feel like she’s the only public figure who respects my profession. Read her response and the original article. It’s worth your time.
If you want an accurate analysis of the Wisconsin teacher protests as a microcosm of the nation’s teaching force’s feelings, read Diane Ravitch’s CNN editorial.
Not only does she discuss the growing anger of teachers everywhere, but she points out the hypocritical nature of the “reformers” and those elected officials who claim to be improving the system:
One must wonder how it is possible to talk of improving schools while cutting funding, demoralizing teachers, cutting scholarships to college, and increasing class sizes.
One point I might add to her article, especially about the value of collective bargaining, is this: five states currently do not have collective bargaining rights, and they rank near or at the bottom of the ACT and SAT rankings. Take a look for yourself:
What teachers and their bargaining bodies advocate are not simply about pay, benefits, and pensions; they advocate for research-based ways to improve student learning as well, and the results are favorable to both teachers and students.
Last semester my juniors composed a thesis paper, and it was a rousing success. I had a series of three editing days where students worked in groups editing papers using a process I created, and then the students completed an editing session with me leading the class. The papers were fantastic, and I felt like a very successful teacher.
Then, I gave the same two classes a personal reflection assignment two weeks ago. We went over the expectations as a class, created a list of non-negotiables, and formulated some topics the students could use. I assessed them over the weekend, and now I wonder what kind of teaching I did (or didn’t do).
I couldn’t tell what I had taught and felt like I didn’t know these kids. We had:
Still, it looked to me as if the students had simply written something the night before the due date. I think we’re going to have a conversation Tuesday about what happened.
In the meantime, I think the diagram below (from here) sums up my suspicions.
Critics of education often tout the idea that the U.S. was once the greatest nation in the world in math and science, and that might be true in pockets, but as a nation we really haven’t topped many lists. Consider this statement which is included in a study of international test results since 1964:
“The United States never led the world. It was never number one and has never been close to number one on international math tests. Or on science tests, for that matter. It is more accurate to say that the United States has always trailed the world on math tests.”
The U.S. has remained economically, socially, and militarily powerful no matter the education rankings and the perceptions about American education. Tom Loveless, at the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, says this about America:
If we have managed to be the world’s most powerful country, politically, economically and militarily, for the last 47 years despite our less than impressive math and science scores, maybe that flaw is not as important as film documentaries and political party platforms claim. And if, after so many decades of being shown up by much of the rest of the developed world, we are improving, it might be time to be more supportive of what we already doing to fix our schools.
Loveless went on to say that Shanghai, often mentioned as one of the most successful nations in the education world, is not all it’s reputed to be. He mentions that 83.8% of Shanghai’s high school graduates attend college, but only 24% of its total population does. 66% of Americans do. For a nation that educates all of its citizens this is an impressive number. Imagine how many students in Shanghai are not even graduating high school.
In short, the United States does quite well educating its citizens. The system isn’t “broken” but does have pockets of problems around the country. I have faith in our system and have watched it work very well for most of our children; plus, we continue to innovate. It’s the American way: no matter what others say or do, we persevere and succeed.
