The Tormenting of Teachers for Profit

This from Debra Testa Fedyna about sums it all up....and if you haven't joined Ohio Bats yet, you should. The struggle is on.................

The Tormenting of Teachers for Profit
Teacher bashing has become a national pastime in this country.
I have been watching this escalate throughout my 35 years of teaching. When I began teaching in 1977, I was viewed as a professional who knew what was best for the young children I taught. My opinion mattered and was respected by parents and administration.
Slowly, year after year my profession began to be analyzed, scrutinized and vilified by the press, legislators and infamous education reformers. It began with the Nation at Risk report on the state of public education in the 80’s which planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of the public.
I knew when NCLB came into the picture that things would only get worse. Teaching to the test became the norm and the needs of children were pushed aside. If you protested the testing it was perceived as you were trying to protect yourself, not the children. The corporate world began to see education as a lucrative business opportunity and teacher unions became the roadblock that needed to be removed. All the while teachers were caught in the middle. Wrestling with what was best for students and trying to uphold their professional rights. We have been the underdogs in this entire process. Often underpaid, overworked and over scrutinized by the communities they served.
I was mystified by the notion of Teach for America being accepted by the public. How could parents want unlicensed, non-education majors teaching their children? How could someone with a pre law degree be better qualified to teach kindergarten after 5 weeks of summer training than a teacher with a 4 year degree, in class experience and a teaching license?? Then I realized that this was the first step in erasing teaching as a profession. TFA implies that anyone with a degree in anything can teach as well or better than a licensed teacher. I was appalled that the public did not demand that this be stopped. But TFA recruits are cheaper to hire than experienced teachers and they have one hell of a PR program. TFA insists that there is a teacher shortage in inner city and rural schools and they fill that void. Now licensed teachers are being fired to bring in TFA recruits in Chicago, Cleveland and many other cities.
So the assault on teachers continued. Education reform groups popped up like dandelions in the years that followed. Students First, Education Matters, Students Matter, Every Child Matters, Center for Education Reform and the list goes on and on. All groups had catchy names, wealthy backers and the ability to influence legislation and financially support Ed Reform candidates. The war against teachers was reaching its peak. I have watched in horror as legislators across the country are enacting laws that reduce teacher retirements, reduce collective bargaining, eliminate tenure, increase testing and tie 30%-50% of teacher evaluations to student test scores.
The focus of all of this educational reform seems to be based on proving teacher ineffectiveness, not improving the learning conditions for students. The catch phrase “Every child deserves a quality teacher” implies that the present teachers are ineffective. This is about controlling the teaching profession so profits are increased. What better way to increase profits then to control the biggest expense, the teachers. If you control that expense, profits soar. When you also control the curriculum, the textbooks, the test prep materials and the testing, you can make a fortune off of the backs of children!
Charter Schools, Virtual Schools and Voucher programs drain funding and take spaces from our public schools. The CEO’s who run these schools are making huge salaries and the track record of most of these charters is questionable at best. Yet they are touted as the answer to all educational issues.
When will the public wake up and realize what is going on? What will it take for them to see that their children are being used for profits? When will they realize that it is the teachers who are fighting to reduce the pressure of over testing, reduce the ill effects of the Common Core and eliminate constant test prep?
I am begging all teachers to continue to fight the onslaught of their profession. Inform your friends, family and colleagues of what is going on. If we don’t stand up for ourselves, no one else is going to save us.