If you watched the two Oprah infomercials for Waiting for Superman this week, you might have noticed the following stats. If not, I'll lay them out for you.
- Total number of teachers on the panel: 0
- Total number of public school parents on the panel: 0
- Total number of billionaires on the panel: 3
- Total number of billions of the panelists: 60
- Total years of teaching experience of all the "experts": 2
- Total minutes devoted to defending unions: 1
- Total minutes devoted to humping charter schools: 119
I think that says it all.
10 comments:
Love it, Mr. Talk!
Total number of public school teachers gagging at the bullshit that was spewed in her show:
millions
I loathe Oprah.
When billionaires with political agendas shape education reform, we'll get more of the same. They have no interest in making the system better because they accrued their wealth through the system.
If (as a nation) we truly believed in educating our children, we would have informed voters who could separate fact from opinion. Then we (as a nation) would bring about meaningful reform through parents, teachers, and communities that truly care about children.
When Oprah is willling to do a show where she presents both sides of an equal arguement and gives both sides equal time to present their positions, then I will take her seriously. Until then, she is just a media monger like all the rest.
Did everyone sign the petition to book Diane Ravitch on the show??
http://education.change.org/petitions/view/petition_to_oprah
Hey, if you like what WalMart did for shopping, you're going to absolutely LOVE their new school system. What do we imagine it'll look like when they get done pouring their billions into it?
Oprah airs at 3:00pm, when most teachers are still at school. So who is her audience, and why are teachers so blantantly excluded, while absent from her forum? Oprah re-runs also air on the weekends, after midnight, when most teachers are too exhausted from working to watch. If all these billionaires think they can teach, why don't they donate their riches to bail out cash strapped public schools and take over a classroom, living on a beginning teacher salary, 1/2 hour lunch, no working computer in the class, no printer, scanner or fax, bathroom a half a block away, no business write-offs for supplies, no administrative support with discipline, 3/4 the class ELD students, with no raises in sight, being given no respect for experience, as well as having no time to fight legislators who would raid your hard earned pension to balance their state budgets. The power teachers in large inner city schools has steadily eroded over the past twenty years, for example, our elementary school used choose curriculum locally. Now our huge bloated (administrators ratio to teachers is 15/1) district imposes all curriculum in a one size fits all fashion. Shame on those who attack dedicated, inspirational elementary school teachers who stay in so called "low-performing" schools because they love to teach! A test score cannot define a student, or a teacher. Are these billionaires so devoid of heart that they must scapegoat teachers who care for the most disenfranchised children, and like the kids, have no power to change the poverty of their environment, except to overlook it and thrive despite it. One of my students was admitted to Julliard on scholarship, because I taught him to love music and singing in Kindergarten. That tops a test score anyday... Look deeper, Oprah!
You nailed it!
If teaching was so easy (and most of the vox pop programs insinuate so, why doesn't oprah and her ilk get into the classroom for an exended period of time (like 10 weeks). We'll then see if she can walk the walk.
Until then she will get 0% of my attention.
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