An Open Letter to President Obama

4 thoughts on “An Open Letter to President Obama”

1. Chris

   November 26, 2012 at 9:04 pm

   Fantastic. However, I’m afraid that the special interests control too many of our politicians, including president Obama. I don’t see this meeting ever happening, and if it would only a half assed effort (meant to temporarily shut us up) would be made to bring real, positive change to our education system. Pearson wouldn’t have it any other way.

   Log in to Reply
2. Sabrina Sebban-Janczak

   November 26, 2012 at 9:17 pm

   Chris,

   check this link :http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/sep/12/two-visions-chicagos-schools/
   Dr. Diane Ravitch has written several books on the decline of public education and took interest in the reasons why Chicago teachers went on strike (not money reasons but for a vision of public education). Perhaps that because she took a keen interest on Chicago Schools and Obama is from Chicago, he will have an empathic ear. I see the glass half full. Do I read you think it’s half empty?

   Log in to Reply
   1. Jim Tripp

      November 27, 2012 at 7:18 am

      I’m gonna say that the glass is half full (because people like Diane Ravitch and Krashen are courageously supporting public ed) and half empty (because the man that Chicago teachers were battling, Rahm Emanuel, used to be Obama’s Chief of Staff in his White House). Obama and Rahm and Duncan are all champions of privatization, the old Chicago School type stuff that was pushed by Milton Freidman for years. But maybe Obama can be pushed to do the better thing.

      Log in to Reply
   2. Chris

      November 27, 2012 at 8:13 am

      Yeah, I’d say that I probably think it’s half empty. I don’t have much faith in our politicians, whether they have a D or an R next to their name. I’ve voted for a 3rd party candidate in 2004, 2008 and 2012. I just don’t see him having an empathic ear, the same big corporations and banks (Goldman Sachs) funded both Romney and Obama. Bill Gates, big proponent of charter schools and privatization of public schools, attended Obama fundraisers. Like Jim said, they’re all champions of privatization of public schools. The Powers that Be do not care about what is best for students and what is best for education. They will not listen to teachers and advocates like Krashen and Ravitch, they will answer to those who fund their campaigns and send lobbyists to DC and basically pull the strings of our elected “leaders”. William Pinar, a very left-wing curriculum theorist who voted for Obama, said that the president’s decisions regarding education (RTTT, charter schools, more testing, etc.) are a “betrayal to the profession and to America’s schoolchildren”.

      I’m very pessimistic, it’s just who I am. I’m a hope for the best, prepare for the worst type of person. I see things getting far worse before they get better in regards to education policy. We will see all of our schools completely turned into cram schools to prepare for standardized testing, resulting in a complete decline in society, before we see anything get better. I may be somewhat of a conspiracy theorist, but I don’t find it surprising, or coincidental, that while Pearson is making record profits, more and more testing is being shoved down our children’s throats, teacher are being held “accountable” according to test scores, teachers are being given less autonomy and freedom over curriculum in order to teach to the tests, and so on………………… while all of this is happening, at the same time pharmaceutical companies are making big bucks, more and more kids are being diagnosed with ADHD because they can’t “focus” in these testing focused schools, more and more kids are being put on ADHD medication, turning them into passive, unquestioning zombies who become passive, unquestioning zombie adults who are then put on antidepressants, antipsychotics, psychotropics, etc., further driving the pharmaceutical industry into high profits.

      I’m going to stop now before I start sounding like a raving lunatic.

      Log in to Reply