Sad to say, rhetorical hyperventilation seems to have become the stock in trade from The Chalkboard’s Joe Williams.
Today’s post brings the breathlessness to new heights.
In one fell swoop, he manages to obliterate every parent organization in the Coalition to Put the Public Back In Public Education that represents parents of color, working class parents and immigrant parents — all of the community groups from Brookyn and the Bronx involved in the Coalition for Educational Justice, the 200 groups which are part of the New York Immigration Coalition and New York ACORN.
All of these organizations were parties to yesterday’s agreement. The additional funding weights for English Language Learners and low income students and the Middle Schools initiative are parts of the agreement that are very important to these organizations, and together with our Coalition partners, the UFT fought hard for those measures.
2 Comments:
1 x
· Apr 21, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Leo, I’m confused. I thought you said in this post that a group’s voice can only legitimately come from its elected representatives. I expected you to say that those parent groups you mentioned “could very well have interesting and important things…to say” about the DOE’s new reforms but “are not substitutes” for elected parent representatives – i.e., CPAC, the group Tim Johnson heads and that the Chalkboard mentioned.
At any rate, I’m glad you’ve broadened your definition of “voice.” Does this mean that, as a teacher who actually agrees with some of the city’s criticisms of the UFT’s priorities, I have a real voice? Does it mean that next time the DOE wants to meet with teachers who aren’t chapter leaders or district reps, you’ll be okay with that?
What brought about your change of heart? Maybe you agree with me that in the world of education, “elected representatives” tend to focus mostly on short-term political gain (or, in this case, saving face) instead of sound long-term policy.
2 HS SHOP TEACHER
· Apr 24, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Dear “X”:
Would that be a Tweed jacket you are wearing?
Walter
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