It's Dead, Jim!

I was supposed to do this bit Tuesday night about RTTT. I figured since the finalists were announced why not have some fun. I was going to have Dating Game RTTT and the three "bachelors" were going to be states. Arne Duncan was going to be the "bachelorette." It would have been a hoot. I had the music all ready to go. But after I just finished with Norm Scott I just couldn't do it.

And this has nothing to do with Norm. Norm was wonderful. I was down after speaking to him. What got me down? Is how Unity and the current UFT hierarchy is in cahoots with the deformers. Which got me to thinking how the deformers are now in control of education. And then to top it all, Obama's speech today to the Urban League.

The nobility of the teaching profession is dying. It is on life support. It just needs someone to pull the plug. All it is about now is numbers. About someone's idea of what constitutes clear cut results.

Tell anyone you are a teacher and you are sure to get some snickering. Or worse. "Teachers are lazy," "The unions decide what is best," "Oh you have all this time off," and it goes on and on and on. But cops, nurses, firefighters, etc... they are noble. Teachers aren't.

I think teachers are a tough bunch and we can take what is being said about us, but know what sucks? It is one thing to accept that outsiders will attack us, but it is another when our union won't have our backs. Not only does the UFT have an obligation to the teachers because of the dues with pay, but it has a moral and ethical obligation as well. How much longer must Mulgrew/Weingarten continue to bend and yield? How much longer will the rank and file accept this?

I say much longer. Because as the rank and file gets younger, and the memory of of a strong union fades into oblivion, the City will get what it wants. Young, pliable teachers who care more about the money and Manhattan lifestyle. And let's not forget these teachers will mostly be putting in three years max. So what will they care about their rights, about the long term health of education?

The deformers are playing their role perfectly. Divide the rank and file. A good example is the little boy and girl over at Educators4Excellence. Pay off teachers with more and more money. Scare teachers with losing their jobs. Make up rules and regulations as they go along. Bring in unethical business type people to put together "blue ribbon" panels on education. Close down schools. Segregate students. And presto!! The death knell of teaching.

THE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH EDUCATION!!! As with anything it changes, adjusts with the times. But in all this insanity, inanity that is swirling above us now I have one simple question. Why is it that there are never any regular teachers involved in all this "change?" Yeah, I know. There are teachers involved, but for some reason they are the type out of central casting that play the mean people in a Karate Kid movie.

Obama said this today to the Urban League:

So Race to the Top, isn't simply the name of an initiative. It sums up what's happening in our schools. It's the single most ambitious, meaningful education reform effort we've attempted in this country in generations.

And it will soon be the latest, most ambitious, most meaningful failure of our students ever attempted by this country in generations.

Thank you for allowing me my rant.