Fair and Balanced
November 6, 2006 12:41 PM
It looks like the Wall Street Journal($) isn't living up to its pledge to be "fair and balanced," at least when it comes to covering teachers unions. Oh wait, that's the motto for FOXNews, the folks who bring us The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes. I guess the WSJ is aiming lower.
Here are a few gems from the last week or so.
- From School Uniform, an op-ed piece by Clint Bolick*, general counsel of the Alliance for School Choice: "But competition from non-unionized public charter and private schools threatens those who have a pecuniary stake in the status quo; and they are determined to snuff it out by any means necessary." Gee, I wonder who he thinks are the defenders of the status quo?
- From Management 101 for Our Public Schools, an op-ed piece by Terry Moe, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution: "By far the most powerful forces in the politics of education are the teachers unions, and they are opposed to incentive pay." Small problem Mr. Moe--the AFT has national policy supporting pay incentives.
- From Spellings Exemptions, a WSJ editorial on U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' decision to allow some school districts that have not made AYP to offer supplemental services under NCLB: "But under pressure from teachers unions and public education bureaucrats like the Council of Great City Schools, Ms. Spellings is allowing the Chicago system to offer its own tutoring." Poor Mike Casserly--getting lumped in with us union hacks who could give two hoots about the kids! Hate to break it to you, but the AFT has a long history of working on school reforms that benefit students.
Of course, the pages of the WSJ are not where you would normally expect to find glowing coverage of the teachers unions but c'mon, what gives?
*At least Mr. Bolick was more circumspect in the WSJ than he was in this podcast, also from last week. My favorite exchange (scroll to the end of the interview):
Host Russ Roberts: (Talking about teacher unions) "But they all do it for the kids?"
Bolick: "Exactly." (Roberts and Bolick laugh.)
Comments
I was just irritated that I had to share the credit.
--Michael Casserly
Council of the Great City Schools
Posted by: Michael Casserly | November 6, 2006 05:51 PM
I'd send a letter to the editor simply stating the AFT position on merit pay, along with the web link.
Avoid even the mention of teacher's unions. Nothing you can say to change opinion there on the WSJ op-ed page.
Posted by: MassParent | November 6, 2006 06:49 PM
All those who have a stake in making money from schools claim they have a magic formula for improving education. The problem is that they are lying.
Education is a long process that requires good teachers to even maintain the status quo when there are so many distractions. Parents are more willing to buy expensive toys to amuse their children that they are willing to support schools.I am a retired teacher who has seen how well schools can function when they are properly supported, and how quickly the results can decline when money for texts and programs is taken away. I was fortunate to have taught in a district where teachers were encouraged to try new techniques. And, I was misfortunate to also teach in another district where buildings and grounds were more important than textbooks and teachers.( I taught one course for two years with no texts, and my pleas for books went unheeded.) If the public wants better schools, the way to improve schools is to seek better administrators who will encourage teachers. Almost every teacher I was privileged to meet in my 35 years wanted to do a better job, but they got little support or encouragement.
Few people have considered how a for-profit school with even fewer resources can claim to be doing a better job than the public schools. The answer is smoke and mirrors. They teach fewer students in fewer subject areas, and they select those students they find acceptable, so the results seem to look good on paper. The truth is that those schools cannot do as good a job as public schools who must accept every student sent to them.
I am interested in replying to those who really want suggestions for improving schools; please write to me.
Posted by: Tom Kaptor | November 15, 2006 07:40 PM
The NCLB act needs to be funded correctly before it was ever even put into law.
Almost all states are abiding by it but still needs more resources and accountability.
Posted by: Jimmy Cruz | November 16, 2006 11:04 AM
One of the editorials in todays Arizona Republic, a very very Republican newspaper, stated the one of Bush's biggest blunders was the so called NCLB Act....but what do you expect from a President who admits to not doing much reading anyway? I don't teach anymore as I got moved around too many times out of my "highly qualifed" area of Economics/Business/Marketing and was teaching 8th grade math (not qualifed you notice) under an emergency certification after I got "transferred" from my classes of Econ/Free Enterprise and Business Math at the district's Success Center the Friday before regular classes started. I had already been teaching for 4 weeks at the Success Center and had just finished writing the synopsis to meet State standards, cramming a semester course into a 4 week course.
NCLB not only leaves the "child" behind, it also leaves the teacher behind.
Posted by: Michael Megee | November 16, 2006 08:14 PM