A teacher's letter to the president

[proud2BlibKansan]

—

Dear Mr. President,

I am a young teacher who, like many others, eagerly supported and worked for your campaign in 2008. I attended rallies, distributed your materials, talked up your cause at every opportunity, and was part of a group that raised several thousand dollars for your campaign. When I met you while working as a student teacher in Philadelphia, heard you speak with disdain about the persistent reality of two Americas, and saw that your campaign sought the counsel of wise educators like Linda Darling-Hammond, my heart literally swelled with the faith (and, yes, hope) that your administration would bring an end to the destructive foolishness of the No Child Left Behind era.

So it pains me to write to you with disappointment today, over the misguided education “reforms” you and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have pursued as part of your Race to the Top initiative. Far from correcting the flawed assumptions and punitive consequences of NCLB, your administration’s policies have reified and extended them.  Recently, a group of teachers developed seven principles that we believe should guide school reform efforts, in response to Secretary Duncan’s inaccurate statements that many of the teachers to whom he’d spoken supported Race to the Top. A full list and explanation of each principle can be found at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/supporteducation. Here, I will discuss two of those principles to explain why I currently oppose your administration’s school reform efforts, and why I urge you to change course.

More ... http://failingschools.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/dear-mr-president/#comments

[Nite Owl]

1. I signed the petition

but doubt that it will change anything. Obama is going to do what he planned to do regardless of how we feel.

[femmocrat]

2. I signed and forwarded it to 5 friends.

Come on, DU. This is worth it.