Is it just me, or is it disturbing to watch Michelle “my-way-or-the-highway” Rhee continue her attempt to rehab her image, and present herself as someone who promotes open, honest collaboration?
By way of reminder: this woman burst on the national scene after posing on the cover of Time magazine with a broom, visually asserting that she believed her employees– the flesh-and-blood educators of Washington, DC– were trash she planned to sweep away. She laughed while describing how, as a new teacher, she taped children’s mouths shut to silence them. She invited a camera crew to film her while firing a principal; her visible excitement over the opportunity to humiliate one of her subordinates was described, charitably, as “stunning.” (Now, how exactly does that kind of callous behavior promote cooperation?) Read More
The Real Stand for Children
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Pop History Quiz: Do you know how children ended up off the factory floor and in classrooms?
From the 1830s until the 1938 passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act, organizations like the Women’s Trade Union League of New York, the New England Association of Farmers, Mechanics and Other Workingmen, the American Federation of Labor and others led the fight to end child labor and institute compulsory schooling laws. (That fight, by the way, continues.)
The reminder seems important now, especially today as Chicago teachers walk picket lines in the largest educator strike in years. For several years, organizations and individuals pushing corporate-driven education policies have repeatedly and cynically argued–directly or otherwise– that unions represent the interests of adults, not children.
Likewise, as Chicago teachers strike today, they are doing so to promote the shared interests of the entire Chicago community. From the children who stand benefit from smaller classes, more arts programs, libraries, and social workers who can enrich their lives; to the community whose local economy would benefit from more working professionals who can pay for the things businesses sell– as well as the extra child care and other expenses many of those professionals will incur if they work a longer day; to the educators themselves, who stand to win both the fair pay and dignity they’re due for their hard work.
By contrast, the policies pushed by their opponents actually do put the interests of SOME adults over the interests of children and the broader community alike. Read More