May 1st, 2011
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Author: These opening paragraphs in a New York Times op ed column by Dave Eggers and Nínive Clements Calegari say it all, and serve to explain why Scott Walker’s assault on Wisconsin public school teachers through union busting and resource withdrawal is only going to make our state’s education system worse:
When we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” No, if the results aren’t there, we blame the planners. We blame the generals, the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No one contemplates blaming the men and women fighting every day in the trenches for little pay and scant recognition.
And yet in education we do just that. When we don’t like the way our students score on international standardized tests, we blame the teachers. When we don’t like the way particular schools perform, we blame the teachers and restrict their resources.
If you can navigate past the Times’ new paywall, the entire piece is worth a read at the link below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html?_r=1&src=un&feed…
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