The Last Straw

All of you teachers reading me right now, get this straight, for once and for all:

They do not respect you!

Albany, NY (April 30, 2012)

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today established the New NY Education Reform Commission, bringing together nationally-recognized education, community, and business leaders to recommend reforms to the state's education system in order to improve performance in the classroom so that all of New York's students are fully prepared for their futures.

The Commission will examine the current structure of the state's education system including teacher recruitment and performance, student achievement, education funding and costs, parent and family engagement, problems facing high-need districts, and the best use of technology in the classroom. The Commission will also analyze the organization of school districts to ensure they are structured to meet the needs of New York's students while also respecting the taxpayer. 

[...] 

Membership of the Commission includes: 

Richard (Dick) Parsons, Retired Chairman, Citigroup, Chair of the New NY Education Reform Commission
Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
Geoffrey Canada, Founder & CEO, Harlem Children's Zone
Irma Zardoya, President & CEO, NYC Leadership Academy
Elizabeth Dickey, President, Bank Street College of Education
Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, President, Say Yes to Education
Lisa Belzberg, Founder & Chair Emeritus, PENCIL
Michael Rebell, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Campaign for Educational Equity
Karen Hawley Miles, President & Executive Director, Education Resource Strategies
José Luis Rodríguez, Founder & CEO, Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc.
Sara Mead, Associate Partner, Bellwether Education Partners
Eduardo Martí, Vice Chancellor of Community Colleges, CUNY
Thomas Kane, Professor of Education & Economics, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Jean Desravines,CEO, New Leaders
Michael Horn, Executive Director & Co-Founder, InnoSight Institute
Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor, SUNY
Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor, CUNY
John B. King, Jr., Commissioner, New York State Education Department
Senator John Flanagan, Chair, Senate Education Committee
Assembly Member Cathy Nolan, Chair, Assembly Education Committee

Not one working teacher. Not one working principal. Not one superintendent, with the possible exception - if we really stretch it - of the very reformy and chartery Geoffrey Canada.

This is a disgusting and completely unacceptable slight to all of the people who work every day to serve the children of New York State. How dare Governor Cuomo treat the educators of this state in such a manner.

Randi Weingarten, I am talking to you right now: You had better go straight to Cuomo and demand that he appoint at least six teachers, three principals, and three superintendents or other administrators immediately to this commission. If he refuses, you need to resign from this commission and publicly denounce it as an affront to all of the Empire State's educators.

Folks, the reason they get away with garbage like this is because we let them. NO MORE! We here in Jersey had to put up with a Educator Effectiveness Task Force with only one working teacher, and the results have been a disaster.

This is about respect. If you politicians and business titans and other members of the elite refuse to give us just the courtesy of having a place at the table - correction, at OUR table - then we will refuse to cooperate.

You owe it to the children of this nation to sit down, shut up for a minute, and listen to the people who actually do the job.

Preach it, Aretha:



ADDING: Parents, they don't respect you, either.