Sunday, March 15, 2009

This Week's Surprise Bottom Feeder

Pop quiz time: What popular host said the following: "For the good of our children, the overly powerful and selfish teacher's union must be busted"?

Bill Orally? Rush Limpballs? Man Coulter?

No, that idiotic comment came from a liberal who decided to drink the Obama/Duncan Kool-aid and give the finger to the teachers of America.

Bill Maher said it on Real Time this past Saturday night. And he didn't just stop there. He also said, and I am paraphrasing here because I'm not currently listening to the recording I made, that teacher unions are like the Catholic Church because they move bad teachers around like the church moves pedophiles around. Now it's well known that Maher has a bug up his ass about religion, but why suddenly go after teachers? Unions don't move anyone around--at least not in NY. To get a transfer here now, you have to pray for a miracle on the humorously titled Open Market.

Maher claimed that teachers are too powerful because 1 in 10 Democratic delegates was a teacher. When did participating in our democratic process become an abuse of power? If we're so powerful, how come we got a reform dillweed like Arne Duncan for Secretary of Education?

It was shocking to me that such a staunch liberal would attack teachers, and unionism in particular. But I really shouldn't be surprised. Anyone who attended school at least til third grade now considers himself an education pundit. By this reasoning, I should run the police department because my apartment was burglarized once. It's amazing how many people think they know how to fix the public schools without ever having attended one or taught anything, anywhere.

For the record, no one wants to get rid of truly bad teachers more than me. I suspect many of my colleagues feel the same way. Who wants to work next to someone who doesn't get the job done? However, the city has three years to decide whether someone can teach and the ability to dismiss such teachers without any explanation for those three years. I can figure out the same thing in three days. So if administrators grant someone tenure (and the key thing to remember is that they have to GRANT it after three years of good performance) then you're damn right it should be difficult to fire those teachers.

So, this week's bottom feeder award is regretfully given to Bill Maher, who should be sentenced to spend some time teaching in a random urban middle or high school, and then report back to us on how easy it is to teach. After some "Real Time" in the classroom, he just might change his tune.

5 comments:

Chaz said...

Bill Maher suffers from the same diesease as many of thoes pusedo-reformers. They believe that bad teachers are responsible for student underachievement. However, they ignore, family and peer issues, bad Administrators, overcrowded classrooms, and poor policy decisions. Further, they also assume that teachers removed from the classroom are truly incompetent or committed misconduct. If these pusedo-reformers actually INVESTIGATED THEY WOULD SEE THAT AGEISM, SALARY, AND PERSONALITY ISSUES ARE THE MAIN REASON THAT TEACHERS ARE REMOVED.

NYC Educator said...

I have to agree with you. Amazing that Maher would say such a thing. One of his guests, though, offered an eloquent and thoughtful response. Wish I could remember the guy's name.

Mr. Talk said...

Chaz--if they ever came to a school, they might realize how hard teachers work and how effective we are under all circumstances.

NYC--the person you're referring to is Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of sociology from Georgetown. He seemed like a truly bright guy, and although he didn't get behind teachers 100%, at least he understood the importance of unionism for the middle class in this country. Bill Maher talked about how he fires 1 out of 6 of his writers every year, and he ended up sounding like that idiot Jack Welch, who trained principals to harass teachers and proposed cutting out 10% of teachers every year.

Anonymous said...

Now, joining Bill Orally, Rush Limpballs, and Man Coulter is Bile Mar. Mr. Mar will be headlining, along with his aforementioned colleagues, a symposium on how to blow edupropaganda out your ass.

JUSTICE not "just us" said...

They are entertainers and since entertainment in this country appeals to the lowest common dinaminator(spelling)why should it surprise that he is talking out of his ass?