Thursday, August 11, 2011

How can teachers take back the education debate?

How can teachers take back the education debate from corporate reformers and politicians? On the next Your Call, we'll talk about what's next for public education in the US. 8,000 teachers rallied for the fist time in DC last Saturday to oppose Obama's corporate reforms. Some said it was a success; others said protests don't work. What strategy do you think is needed to move public education in a healthy direction? Join us at 10 or email feedback@yourcallradio.org. What are teachers, parents, and students saying about the future of public schools? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Kristy Morrison, teacher at Galileo High School in San Francisco and organizer with Against Cuts

Kelly Clark, 5th grade teacher at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy in San Francisco

Alan Singer, social studies educator in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York

Click to Listen: How can teachers take back the education debate?

1 comment:

Kipsych said...

I agree with Mr. Singer about holding out against the new wave of idealogical pedagogy. The charter/privatization of schools and the education system in general is rampant & a lot of teachers are thinking that this is the newest thing and can't hurt anything.....I don't think that it is the silver bullet that so many believe it is. The model of charter schools worked in one area, however even the woman who started the movement doesn't think it's an answer across the board.

I always say, "A silver bullet is great if you're up against a bunch of werewolves, but if a vampire walks in the room, you're f*****!"

The comments about the community around a school are important as was voiced on the show are partially true, but I've been through some of this "community" meetings at regular public schools and much of the time there are a lot of VOCAL representatives of the private after-school tutoring programs who then end up guiding the financial choices of the regular school day. They insist they are there to represent the parents, but they never cut their program, no matter how expensive it is. When parents are spoken to by the regular teachers they often don't even know these people or thought they were teachers! I can only imagine that it must be even worse at charter schools...