The Rich Pig A$$ Ki$$er$ I'm talking about are the well compensated leaders of Ed Deform A$tro Turf$, many which receive their daily caviar from the likes of the Gate$ Foundation and the Waltons. They lead a lot of organizations, they're well paid for it, they're focused on blaming the on-site working stiffs in education, and they NEVER hold accountable the leaders running education. With Democratic Leaders like this, who needs the Republicans?
Here is a partial list of organizations just in the great state of Wishy Warshy, Pacified Northwest: League of Education Voters (LEV), Partnership For Learning (PFL), Stand On Children (SFC), Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), Teach For Awhile (TFA), National Council for Teacher Quality (NCTQ), A+ Washington (A+), Alliance For Education (AFE) ...
The organizations work relentlessly on the Great Teacher Bashing Tour, because ... they can't work on holding management accountable and get paid, can they?
All kids will be saved when we have charters and evaluations that work as well as ... the evaluations of Wall Street bandits?
Blame Teachers, Again
WA. Charter Crap, Version #2012
The teacher bashing onslaught soared to new heights in September 2010 with the release of "Waiting For Stuporman". One September day, I got home from work & I was channel surfing & I saw my Ex-Boss, (7 clicks removed) Bill Gates, sitting on Oprah's couch with Michelle Rhee, while the 3 of them ooh-ed and ahh-ed over this little piece of propaganda.
Having a full time ++ job, I decided that I was going to leaflet against their propaganda as I could.
Below is a leaflet I distribute at ed deform events, and at sundry other local Seattle community events.
I enjoy leafleting.
I enjoy telling people a teacher and I'm leafletting because I'm prejudiced:
I'm prejudiced against well paid managers, AND
I'm prejudiced against well paid CON$ultant$,
because as members of the 1% and as agents of the 1%,
their greatest skills are blaming us working stiffs for problems we didn't create -
I've been teaching high school math for over 6 years,
I actually worked at Microsoft in Redmond as a low level support serf for 5 years,
I was a chef for 15 years, and spent 5 of those years cooking in fine dining in Boston (the Boston Four Seasons Hotel from '85 to '87).
I KNOW what high priced CON$sultant$ look like,
I KNOW how little they help my kids learn math,
I KNOW how little they help kids at our school,
I KNOW how little they help any kids in our district,
I'm prejudiced against well paid managers, AND
I'm prejudiced against well paid CON$ultant$,
because as members of the 1% and as agents of the 1%,
their greatest skills are blaming us working stiffs for problems we didn't create -
Below is my leaflet.
From: A Math Teacher
To: The Education Reformers With Whom I Disagree, and
To: The Agents of the 1% and The Members of the 1% - WELCOME!
TO THOSE EDUCATION REFORMERS WITH WHOM I DISAGREE -
The public education system is failing too many students, especially those without re$ource$. The failures are as unjustifiable as they are inexcusable.
When any of you ed reformers want to work on systemic reform, I’m ready to work with you. When systemic solutions are focused on the on site workers with no control over the conditions imposed on us, instead of the various leaders outside the school house who determine those conditions, I have NO time to work with you.
Infrequently I want to apologize for all the excuses you hear from the leaders of the state and local education bureaucracies, from the leaders of the colleges and schools of education, and from the state and national leaders of my unions – however, I am only a teacher. No teacher or principal or custodian is in charge of any of the external systems which affect our students and our buildings, and I am not apologizing for the failings of those who’ve been paid to run those external systems.
WHERE ARE THE PROGRAMS AND BEST PRACTICES WHICH WORK IN THE CLASSROOM?
This is my 7th year as a high school math teacher. Every year, I’m deluged with teacher “Best Practices!!”. The best practices never have details on how to make them work. Given the lack of details, there are no time estimates for implementing the details, so of course there isn't any money to pay for the non existent time estimates or vapor-ware details. There are always lots of fancy power points hyping the best practices.
Examples exist of good programs and workable best practices. For example, in Seattle there is a K-2 reading program from the organization Powerful Schools. On their website they used to tell visitors that a $1400 donation would pay the same tutor to work with the same child for ½ an hour a day, 4 days a week, 28 weeks a year. As of May 2012 they don't tell us that anymore.
To my ex-chef math teacher brain, it seems that there should be internet lists available of good programs and good best practices. The programs and best practices should be costed out in time to implement by required skill(s), and, they should have estimated funding requirements, and there should be recommended priorities of programs and best practices for different situations. It wouldn’t be perfect ... yawn... but it how could it be worse than what we have now?
WHAT ARE SOME ROADBLOCKS TO IMPROVEMENT?
I spent 25 years working in that incredibly innovative private sector, where the Masters of the Universe harvest their own water, grow their own shirts, bestow life on us nothings, rig the rules to line their pockets, wreck the economy, and turn around and blame everyone else! The economy I’ve experienced since I was a teenager on welfare in the 70’s has been pretty much a crooked gambling den with, incidentally, some accidental bubbly bright spots. The economy I’ve experienced has tens of millions of us working harder for less retirement security, less or no health care security, less housing security, and little or no income security in a race to the bottom job market. The economy I’ve lived in has been great for those of the top 5% and 1% - those who've employed me as a fine dining cook in Boston for 5 years in the 80's, or employed me as a Microserf in Redmond a decade ago. Credentials aren’t skills, and in the private economy I haven’t see much correlation between the credentials of those running large organizations, their paychecks, and their ability to run the organizations well.
It appears to me that education has done a great job modelling the private sector. I wish I had an answer. Should everyone who has had a management job for over 5 years in the last 30 years be fired? We’d certainly lose a lot of people extremely talented at running failing systems, and dodging blame.
To those calling themselves Democrats and who are focused on blaming the on-site working stiffs at schools filled with struggling students, the vilification of the teacher’s unions would make Ronald Reagan proud. In 30+ years I have NEVER seen any subset of Democrats so unified on tactics or messaging! Messaging and tactics this coordinated did NOT come out of the working stiffs, it came from the Big $hot$ who’ve been waging and winning cla$$ war on our communities for decades. Read what Smedley Butler wrote in 1935 – “War is a Racket”. When the Education Reform Big $hot$ are finished setting up their new racket, they’ll be free to line their pockets and free to take care of their friends... and that is going to help the education of which cla$$?
WE do need to fix education – and helping the Big $hot$ of the 1% wreck education is only helping people who are using you.
To: The Agents of the 1% and The Members of the 1% - WELCOME!
YOU AREN’T ON THE SIDE OF THE STUDENTS, THE COMMUNITY, THE TEACHERS!
YOU ARE ON THE $IDE OF YOUR CLA$$! BIG $HOT MANAGER$ AND CON$ultant$
To the Arne Duncans, Michelle Rhees, Bill Gates, Eli Broads, Wendy Kopps, and their head honchos in the local, state and national astro-turf phake “grassroots” organizations –
YOU SHOULD BLAME TEACHERS!
We’re the easiest targets!
We’re trying to fix the world for all, which doesn’t help you fix the set up of your rackets!
We’re about as politically incompetent as any group could be!
We’re NOT from YOUR social cla$$!
We don’t hire advocates who use “The Prince” for tactics and strategy!
From the Statistical Abstract of The United States, 2011, table 701, “Money Income of People ... 2008” .
There were appx. 240,000,000 men and women over 15 with Money Income.
There were appx. 24,000,000 with Money Income over $75,000.
There were appx. 216,00,000 with Money Income UNDER $75,000.
There were appx. 180,000,000 with Money Income UNDER $50,000.
How many of you Big $hot$ have spent 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 of the last 30 years in the top 5% or 1% of income?
What new computer chip or steamship industries have you actually invented? What did you acquire through fixing and rigging the game so you’d be the winner? What do YOU bring to the table, other than stellar skills in legalized stealing?
Why can’t you teach our kids how to invest today to create family wage jobs, family income security, family health security and family retirement security?
Because it is NOT what American Big $hot Manager$ and CON$ultant$ do!
I’m 52 ... I haven’t seen it since the election of Ronnie Raygun, when I was 20 in 1980.
WHY DON’T THE BIG $HOT MANAGER$ AND CON$ultant$ TEACH OUR KIDS HOW TO ACCEPT REPSONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILTY FOR SYSTEMIC FAILURE?
Because it is NOT what American Big $hot Manager$ and CON$ultant$ do!
Because the decades long, glib, slick marketing of high grade thievery isn’t about making the community run well, it is about Holywood pap movies like “Waiting for Superman”, so the BIG $HOT$ can line their pockets.
WHY DO BIG $HOT$ AND CON$ultant$ BLAME Teachers, Principals, Janitors, Secretaries... for SYSTEMIC FAILURE!
Because “Truth, Justice and the American way” is all about blaming the underlings!
Raise your hand if you voted for 'moderate' Democrats for decades, only to empower Rich Pig Ass Kissers who are selling us out!
LEV + SFC + DFER + TFA + NCTQ + CPER + PFL + APLUS + AFE + ... = GATE$ = ... you?