Teaching and Union World's egregious policies
By Ari Kaufman (10/14/06)
On October 9, I called my dad around a quarter to four in the afternoon, and no one was at his office. When I spoke to him later in the evening, he boasted that he and his co-workers were permitted to leave work at 3:30 in honor of Columbus Day. As someone who just published letters to the editor in multiple newspapers and websites for the second straight year about the tragic disappearance of the day we celebrate America's founder, my heart swelled with pride. As a former schoolteacher, knowing that by 3:30 most of my former colleagues were already long gone from campus, I chuckled. Further realizing that nearly all school districts in America do not recognize Columbus Day as a holiday anymore, I felt frustration again.
I resigned from teaching in Los Angeles after two years of mostly enjoyable experiences. Well, I enjoyed the teaching aspect, but little else. When, as a non-tenured teacher, my articles about educational reform were published, the reactions were swift and severe. My evaluation levels began dropping, formerly friendly teachers now refused even to acknowledge my presence; the convivial chatter ceased. One outraged teacher wondered how anyone could support Republicans, much less say a word against the teachers unions. There was simply a vitrioilc culture of intimidation and blackballing in my school, and doubtlessly many others. A teacher could be tardy, ineffective, absent for weeks at a time, and nary an eye would bat. But to declare your opposition to the teachers union was unacceptable, not that any fatuous colleague would come out and say it straight to my face. Stares, shunning from events and little notes with links to my blog and articles being passed around the faculty lunchroom would suffice.
When I recently read that the LAUSD with the assistance of United Teachers Los Angeles is sponsoring a macabre resolution demanding the union and others stop identify and boycott goods and investment in the state of Israel, I realized that this despicable endeavor made the fees they tacked onto monthly union dues to fight Governor Schwarzenegger last years seem innocuous.
It's not just that public education, from its teachers and administrators to its district personnel and union bosses is unrepentantly biased politically, it's that the actions and realities of the "real world" are so foreign to them that they have little idea what their policies appear like to the average non teacher. And as soon as criticism is levied, the unionists shout back in protest, "Well, you've never been a teacher, so what do you know." Well, I have and I do know. The teaching world is far removed from the real one. This is a constant theme I address in my upcoming book on educational reform.
While Columbus Day may be a thing of the past in LA schools, it is still celebrated in places like New York, Chicago and Boston, possibly due to the high Italian population. But what about Presidents Day and Veterans Day? The latter is celebrated in public schools only when the 11th of November occurs on a Friday or Monday and the former is gone at most universities.
With this in mind, The National Review's John J. Miller recently wrote a lengthy piece about the disappearance of Military History from college course offerings. However, he also elucidates that, "When history departments actually offer military-history courses, students flock to them.“ This was always the same occurrence when I would break out a map for five quick minutes and teach my fourth and fifth graders about history and geography during the otherwise rigidly-designed, "teacher proof" day. Exuding creativity is surely a lost art in educators. It's not totally their fault as the school districts, for various reasons, don't trust teachers to ditch the prescribed lesson plans, especially in bigger districts.
But if, as in college, the kids and learning, enjoying and, at least in my classes, have adequate test scores, shouldn't we bequeath the education they seek? Not in the teaching world apparently.
Just as teachers and unions discourage and obfuscate plans for merit-based pay, tenure extension and, of course, tracking of where union dues end up, the legitimate intentions of outsiders and "maverick" educators like I suppose I was, fall on deaf ears, no matter how noble and realistic they are.
Somehow though, students can be pulled from class anytime for "multi cultural" activities like Black History Month Festivals and other events celebrating "diversity." Teachers bristled when I questioned the wasted hours of class time doing rehearsals. Although the class time and taxes wasted to promote cultural diversity as test scores plummeted was painful to me, most teachers loved it. And why not? They didn't have to teach.
And maybe that's what educrats want. They have constantly opposed any measures that hold teachers accountable for their students' performance via federal plans like "NO Child Left Behind" even though, when proposed in 2001, it drew more votes from their beloved Democrats than Republicans. They also seek to indoctrinate our youths solely with reading, math and, if time, revisionist history and an egregious dismissal of all things patriotic, including, in many cases, the pledge of allegiance in elementary school and military recruiters on high school and collegiate campuses; and they essentially refuse to adopt any of the run-of-the-mill policies for employee compensation and/or hiring and firing practices used in "non teacher" society.
All of this is tragic. Policy ignorance aside, knowledge of and pride in our country's past, no matter how controversial it has suddenly become, is necessary for our kids. Most of my former students still thought they lived in Mexico and that President Bush hated black people.
We can't always blame Air American Radio and Kanye West for such absurd suppositions. Educators must be held accountable. If they want to take credit for, as they so often brag, "producing all the future doctors, lawyers and CEOs," then they must accept the critiques that come with it. Accountability is often a two way street, I think.
Political Scientist, Michael Desch, noted that "Knowledge of military history is an essential prerequisite for an informed national debate about security and statecraft."
This is undeniably true. If our students are spouting such spurious historical rhetoric, no matter what side of the spectrum, we should be alarmed. That their teachers called me a racist for voting Republican despite the history of the Democrat party, proving the opposite, shows where their flawed knowledge of current and past events stems from. My kids were in jovial hysterics when we played the red state, blue state game the day after the election on my rug map in the back of the classroom. They learned a lot, but who cares, right?
The country has a lot of work to do to return to educational prominence, especially from Kindergarten through 12th grade. It would be nice if we had our most important ally (teachers) joining us. As of now, based upon my experiences, we do not.
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