Sane is the new Radical

[Hannah Bell]

I've been called a lot of names in my life; some good, some bad, most true. But recently, a new adjective has been added to the mix: radical.

At first, I was kind of offended. After all, Americans don't really take too well to so-called radicals, and being "radical" seems like a one-way ticket to irrelevance. Plus, I know real, honest-to-goodness radicals, and I don't think they'd want their well-earned title diluted through its application to a J.Crew-wearing schoolteacher turned blogger and housewife.

(That, and some of these people want to apply the term "revolutionary" to people who advocate for ramping up the same tired "reforms" we've been trying for years. They also like to label those of us who advocate for a more thoughtful approach to school reform as "laggards." So at any given time, you can be both radical and a laggard for disagreeing with the status quo, and people who want to pump up the status quo are "revolutionaries." I hear the cries of tortured words...)

You might be a radical laggard if...

•You think our president should stop criticizing parents for "not having a book in the house" and buying video games when he and his Secretary of Education support spending billions of dollars nationwide on toys like faulty data and accountability systems... at a time when school districts are so broke they're shortening the school week, adding furlough days, laying off teachers and librarians, cutting transportation and skimping on basic supplies. (And, yeah -- It's really, really not OK to suggest that it's unfair to judge teachers on student performance when we can't even guarantee that kids can get to the building in the first place, or that there will be enough supplies -- or desks! -- to go around when they do.)

•You think that if other countries are ending the outdated practice of publicly shaming suspected criminals, America shouldn't be promoting the practice of publicly shaming teachers.

•You think people should be required to have classroom teaching experience before running a school or school district....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sabrina-stevens-shupe/sane-is-the-new-radical_b_774372.html

[maryf]

1. K&Rnt

[blindpig]

2. k&r

[Blue State Blues]

3. k & r nt

"You think people should be required to have classroom teaching experience before running a school or school district"

Yep. I'm radical for demanding qualified administrators in every school building.