In last week’s article headed “Vergara decision draws disparate responses,” Gary Walker quoted several Californians. As a veteran educator, I would like to share additional quotes that help to educate our local community about a dangerous national pattern that the Vergara case represents. I am pleased that Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), brings honor to my profession by calling on so-called education “reformers” to “lift up solutions” and, instead of pitting students and teachers against each other, to “lift up entire communities.”
In response to Judge Treu’s anti-tenure decision, Weingarten writes, “It’s surprising that the court, which used its bully pulpit when it came to criticizing teacher protections, did not spend one second discussing funding inequities, school segregation, high poverty or any other out-of-school or in-school factors that are proven to affect student achievement and our children. We must lift up solutions that speak to these factors—solutions like wraparound services, early childhood education and project-based learning.”
Weingarten further criticizes Treu’s opinion as lacking “a thoughtful analysis of how these statutes should work. There is very little that lays groundwork for a path forward. Other states have determined better ways—ways that don’t pit teachers against students, but lift up entire communities.”
I am glad that Weingarten concludes her statement with a commitment for my profession that makes me proud to be a champion of public education: “We will continue to work with parents and communities to fight for safe and welcoming neighborhood public schools that value both kids and the women and men who work with them. No wealthy benefactor with an extreme agenda will detour us from our path to reclaim the promise of public education.”
I am equally glad that Weingarten wrote this in a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, regarding his praise for the Vergara ruling: “You added to the polarization. And teachers across the country are wondering why the Secretary of Education thinks that stripping them of their due process is the way to help all children succeed.”
Another response to Secretary Duncan that should command our respect is that of Diane Ravitch, renowned research professor of education at New York University, the nation’s leading advocate on public education, and author of the recent New York Times bestseller “REIGN OF ERROR: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools.” She, along with Weingarten, chastised Duncan for hailing the Vergara verdict: “Not a word about the real causes of unequal opportunity: poverty and segregation.”
In “Reign of Error,” Diane Ravitch argues that the crisis in American education is not a crisis of academic achievement but a concerted effort to destroy public schools in this country.
The anti-union group “Students Matter,” the organization that financed the Vergara lawsuit, is part of that destructive “concerted effort.” They undermine public education and democracy itself by pitting students and teachers against each other. In order for students to win, teachers and their unions have to lose. On June 11, Michael Hiltzik wrote in the L.A. TIMES, “Critics of teacher unions maintain that they’re entrenched interests that block needed reforms. But they don’t have anything like the deadening effect on education of the fans of ventures like Students Matter.”
Last November, United Parents of Culver City (UPCC), with the motto “Students First,” campaigned against union-endorsed school board candidates, including incumbent Karlo Silbiger. Their vitriolic rhetoric demonstrated for me that they are one of the groups Diane Ravitch and Michael Hiltzik warn us about.
Alan Almont, a proud member of UPCC, further demonstrated this in his anti-union opinion of AFT president Weingarten’s statement regarding the Vergara ruling. “Interesting if narrow response,” he writes. “This case does not resolve anything. BUT it does clear the deck for real reform which is appropriately a legislative function and not up to the court. Will the UNIONS move forward on that or seek to re-establish the status quo via contributions and lobbying in Sacramento?”
In contrast to the win-lose dynamic created by UPCC, former union-endorsed school board candidate Claudia Vizcarra created a win-win facebook page–“Culver City PEERS: Parents & Educators for Equity & Resources in our Schools.”
Please educate yourself about what Diane Ravitch calls “a concerted effort to destroy public schools in this country.” Visit Culver City PEERS to find several Ravitch blogs, as well as a wonderful graphic about “restorative practices” sponsored by pro-public education groups National Opportunity to Learn (OTL), National Education Association (NEA), and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) – Visit www.otlcampaign.org/restorative-practices. These groups make me proud of my profession, proud to be a union member who is about “lifting up solutions” and “lifting up entire communities” . . . “to RECLAIM THE PROMISE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.”—AFT President Randi Weingarten.
Carlene Brown, MA Ed
