Glenn, There is hope on the horizon:
Karen Lewis New Chicago Teachers¹ Union President really kicked butt at the AFT Convention in Seattle. Here¹s her acceptance speech from June: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42TtWpO9vf0 On 7/23/10 12:41 PM, "Glenn" <[email protected]> wrote: > "Michelle Rhee Chancellor of Schools in Washington, D.C. has just fired a lot > of teachers based on students¹ test scores. Amazingly she has procured $20 > million for the schools from the private sector, but here¹s the rub: no one > gets a cent unless SHE is Chancellor of Schools. > > Talk about a stacked deck, securing YOUR job, while ensuring others lose > theirs for specious reasons." > > > Wilma, > > For many years, I studied the delivery of addiction services (social work) and > the jobs of front line workers. Like teachers, they were scapegoats through > the same type of simplistic focus on flawed assessments to distract from the > failed policies and the sabotage of their profession. Destroying a public > behavioral health care system was the ultimate goal, just like destroying a > public education system is the goal of No Child Left Behind/Race to the top. > > Substance abuse counselors are blamed and evaluated only for the drug use of > clients and evaluated on pathetic paperwork checklists. AND THE REAL POLICY > FAILURES ARE NEVER LOOKED AT! I believe the comparison of these two > professions is very important and warrants serious discussion! > > > From a feminist perspective, the two professions can be looked at as > traditional woman's work in a patriarchal system. Consequently, both vital > professions have been traditionally undervalued and receive low pay. But the > condescending ideology from the elite researchers in the fields leads to two > important structural problems, which are not understood by the general public. > > > First is the failure to create the structures for individuals to develop as > professionals. (Both professions lose an extraordinary number of young > professionals in the early years.) Second is the refusal to allow the > ancillary services necessary to improve outcomes among the population with > multiple and complex issues. > > It is not the front line workers who are lazy idiots, but the elite policy > makers who ask for water to be made from wine!!!! We, the people, need to > understand why outcomes are less than ideal when the systems and individuals > are sabotaged. We have the grapes and the wine press, and poor outcomes come > from poor policy. > > > > Public school teachers and social workers in public systems are not generally > engaged like other respected professionals. They deal with complex problems > but their jobs leave them immediately isolated in complex situations. > Trainings and manuals tend to be useless and condescending. They have no > built in structure to allow them to be researcher practitioners. They don't > have journal clubs, mentors or collaborations with other professionals to > advance themselves or their field. The continuing development structures for > other respected professionals are the right way to engage a developing > professional! Teachers and social workers are told to develop in isolation by > studying condescending and useless interventions by elite researchers. > > As for making wine from water- Addiction therapists are told to keep their > homeless, depressed, unemployed clients with low literacy skills from using > drugs. When they don't, they are blamed for being lazy and stupid, like > teachers who have children with multiple life issues. (The systems have no way > to coordinate the care for the individuals being served. By not addressing > the child's problems in one area; poor outcomes in other areas like reading > will emerge.) > > Using ridiculous measures to blame front line workers is a deliberate > distraction from the underlying structural problems in the systems. Should > teachers and social workers continue to accept blame in the midst of such > broken systems and the failure of the elites to stand up and educate the > general public about the real reasons for less than ideal outcomes??? > > I think front line workers in these two fields need to act up and fight back > in solidarity! > > Glenn > PS: Yes the corporate vultures are ready to profit from the sabotage of front > line workers! > > > > > On 7/23/2010 11:20 AM, Wilma de Soto wrote: >> Michelle Rhee Chancellor of Schools in Washington, D.C. has just fired a lot >> of teachers based on students¹ test scores. Amazingly she has procured $20 >> million for the schools from the private sector, but here¹s the rub: no one >> gets a cent unless SHE is Chancellor of Schools. >> >> Talk about a stacked deck, securing YOUR job, while ensuring others lose >> theirs for specious reasons. >> >
