Losing our focus

Today at 2:50 EST, many people stood silent in remembrance of the victims, the families and communities impacted by the bombings at the Boston Marathon.

I was surprised that nothing "official" was done by my school district.  The Governor of Massachusetts and the Mayor of Boston had called on the public to participate.  President Obama participated privately.

So - rather than asking for permission, I just organized my own moment of silence.  I told as many teachers as I could in our building to hold a moment of silence in their classes.

There isn't anything particularly malicious about the lack of "official" effort on the part of the school district.  Really, it is just a sin of omission.  But why?

The focus on testing, career and college-readiness, and so-called "achievement" has warped the purposes of school and public education.  Originally, schools were interested in producing good citizens rather than productive workers.

Our superintendents, administrators and school leaders have not deliberately ignored the people of Boston.  It is just that they are not paying attention.  Even a moment of silence doesn't fit into our scheme of "no interruptions" as we prepare for the all-important state test.

We have lost something as a nation.  We have lost our focus on molding good citizens who love their neighbors and love their country along with its history, laws and traditions.

Thank you and Congratulations!

The election for NEA Director was held on Sunday, April 21.  Lisa Kickbusch (Pattonville) was elected in a very close vote as the next NEA Director.  Congratulations to Lisa!  She will serve well the members of MNEA.

Thank you to Lisa and her team and to Frank and his team for a great campaign.  The tone of our campaign was great, all the materials were fun, and relationships were strengthened by the end.  I certainly appreciate your willingness to be part of the joint hospitality room.

Thank you to Julia Todd for suggesting and organizing the joint hospitality room.  Such a profound statement of unity as well as thriftiness!

Thank you to Regina Cooper for her service as the campaign treasurer.  We definitely learned as we went along.  I so appreciate her friendship and support.

Thank you to the members of Independence NEA for being such a support and inspiration to me.  My work with my local Association will be some of the proudest and important work on my life.

Thank you to the "Seed Planter."

And a final - but SO important - thank you to my wife, Stana.  Anything that I do is not possible without her.  She is passionate about the work of the Association as much as any of our members.

There is always the temptation to look back and think about what could have been different - especially when the vote is so close.  However, each campaign exists at a particular moment in time, within a certain context.  Candidates and voters make a variety of decisions - small and large - based on a whole range of information, attitudes, and assumptions.  Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong.  That is democracy for you.  I am pleased with the type of campaign that I ran and I hope my supporters are as well.    I am pleased with the campaigns of the other director candidates.

Some have said to me, "Maybe it will be for the best."  Yes - I agree that everything always - in the end - works out for the best.  BUT - I also believe that is the case when people make that happen themselves.  This will be for the best - because I will make it so.  Lisa has my complete support to make our Association and public education "something better" for Missouri educators, students and families.

Declaration of Independence (MNEA, 1973)

I have found myself reading this over and over and over again.  Every educator needs to take this to heart.  Please note that when it was written, membership in MNEA was not yet open to education support professionals.

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We are teachers in Missouri.  We care about our rights.  We care about what goes on in the classroom.

For too many years, we have felt helpless in our endeavors to fulfill our responsibilities as professional educators. There were always too few dollars, too many arbitrary and counterproductive rules and too many politicians making political decisions about education.

Teachers had virtually no influence on the politicians or the decisions.  Now, we seek to change that.  We ask only the opportunity to mobilize teachers for effective use of our collective power.  The uses of that power are the prerogative of the affected teacher group, whether it be local, state or national.

A new day has arrived for Missouri teachers.  From all areas of the state, we are declaring our independence from our old futility, from groups dominated by people who did not believe in the collective insistence of teachers on better schools, better salaries and better protection of teacher rights.

We make a dual pledge.  First, to the teacher of Missouri: that our new organization will be built on the principles of justice, participatory democracy and commitment to the highest quality of education.  Second, to the present and future parents of Missouri: that the results of our active and concerned teacher action will be manifold but will center on ending waste in school spending, increasing the quality of teaching and decreasing the depersonalization and overcrowding in Missouri schools.

Missouri schools aren’t doing the job.  There is no magic formula to change that, but we believe that classroom teachers, working together, are the best hope for worthwhile change.

Teachers of Missouri, join us.  Together we are not helpless.

We are at the beginning of a long journey for Missouri teachers and Missouri education.  We are sustained on this journey by our collective belief that something better is possible for Missouri, something better for teachers, something better for parents, and, most important, something better for students.

We declare our independence from the hopelessness of the past and look forward to the days, months and years of this new journey.

Speaking Out

I am not a stranger to standing up and speaking out when necessary.  Here's a recent example:

The Board of Education in my school district has been described by one outside observer as a "Stepford" Board.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Whatever you say, Dr. Mr. Superintendent.  There has not been a dissenting vote on the Board in at least five years - probably longer - I just got tired of looking through minutes.  Like the GOP during the last election, Board members are in a "bubble" and receive only certain information selected to support the Administration's proposals.  Board members are discouraged to contact teachers, employees and principals to verify any information - that is considered to be "micromanaging."  Anyone who dares criticize is labeled "negative" and the opinion is dismissed out-of-hand.

A few years ago, I came across an article about the investigation into the Columbia Shuttle accident.  The report not only discussed the technical failures but also highlighted how the organizational culture of NASA failed.  When I read the article, I immediately recognized the similarities with my school district. (Full report)

After a series of poor decisions by the Board this year, I felt that it was time to speak out.  My remarks began:

After the Columbia space shuttle disintegrated during reentry, the federal government ordered an extensive review of that failure.  The review committee looked back not only at the history of the space shuttle program – including the Challenger disaster – but also examined the organizational culture of NASA that permitted these mistakes.
 NASA had a culture that squelched dissent and stifled differences of opinion.
Its past successes made it resistant to external criticism and doubt.
Organizational barriers existed that prevented open and effective communication.
Administrators imposed a “party-line vision” which led to flawed decision making, self-deception, introversion, and diminished curiosity.”

Needless to say, the Board members and Central Office administrators were not happy.  Yet, after the meeting, every parent in attendance approached me and thanked me for the remarks.  My comments were partially quoted in the local paper (link) and afterwards a parent of one of my students emailed me his appreciation as well.  Since then, several administrators have privately thanked me for saying what they cannot - at least not with retaliation.

I am ready to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT for Missouri educators and their students.  Vote EAGER for NEA Director.

A generation from now

A generation from now – what will be said of our time?  Public education faces unprecedented challenges.  Will future generations see our time as the deserved end to a failed public education system?  Or will they wonder at our fortitude defending the foundation of democratic society?

 

A generation from now – what will be said of the leaders of our time?  The challenges faced by public education are well-known.  We cannot claim to be surprised at the scope and ferocity of the attacks.  We need leaders who are prepared to meet these challenges and who can envision a path forward for our profession and Association.

 

Forty years ago, the founders of MNEA had to make difficult choices about the direction of a new Association.  In 2013, we will elect a new generation of leaders who must create new opportunities for our Association, our profession and our students. I believe that my background as well as my local and state experience uniquely prepares me to take an active role as NEA Director.  I ask for your vote.

 

For more information about how I will STAND UP and SPEAK OUT for Missouri educators and our students, please visit EAGER4NEA.blogspot.com

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The above is my "official" candidate statement that appears in MNEA's "Something Better" magazine (Spring 2013).

The War against Public Education

The movie, "Won't Back Down", will be out in theaters soon - and we need to prepare for another round of union-bashing.  At its core, however, there is a war against public education and the American ideal that everyone deserves a free and public education.  This article in Daily Kos is worth reading:

Welcome to the culture war against teachers

The article makes an interesting point about the degradation of the expertise of educators.  We would not dream of telling a surgeon how to operate or a pilot how to fly.  But so many people now believe that they know more about education than the educators themselves.

During the open house for parents this year, I made sure to highlight my experience.  Their children are in expert hands.  My basic message was this:  parents are experts in their own children, while I am an expert in middle school education.  I have taught middle school longer than my students have been alive.  I offered my expertise to these parents to survive the difficult middle school years. Few people would choose to spend 13 years with 7th graders - but I have - and I love it.

Nation or Confederation?

Following the Revolution, our country faced a series of governmental crises.  The weak central government under the Articles of Confederation was unable to respond effectively.  A group of businessmen and landowners organized a convention to address the crises .  The Constitutional Convention met in secret for several months in 1787 and drafted a constitution that had a stronger national government.

Events in Europe relative to the Greek debt crisis mirror many of these issues.  Paul Krugman - as usual - has a precise reading on this issue here.  He writes:  "So Greece, although not without sin, is mainly in trouble thanks to the arrogance of European officials, mostly from richer countries, who convinced themselves that they could make a single currency work without a single government.." 

But here in the United States, the tension between a strong and weak federal government persists.  The Civil War - in part - was a struggle between different ideas about the appropriate role of the federal government.  The Great Depression also challenged our government's ability to respond to that economic crisis.  In both cases, we chose a strong federal government.

Now, generations later, people still argue about the proper role of the federal government.  Many Tea Party activists believe that states have the right to nullify federal laws - an argument which has been repeatedly rejected in this country.  Some radical legal scholars and so-called "free market" economists call into question the very basis for the modern nation-state.  Here is a good brief criticism of those concerns.

As one Daily Kos diarist recently wrote, the very stake of our national constitutional framework is at stake because of the precarious balance on the Supreme Court.  The radical Right have come to love judicial activism - if it furthers their goal to dismantle government in favor of so-called private enterprise.  Thus, "[t]he re-election of President Obama is the most important progressive project in this election year.  You don't have to love or even like what the president has accomplished in his first four year to understand this." 

I don't love or even like much of what the president has proposed for public education.  These "deforms" emphasize corporate solutions, competition, testing, and Teach for America.  But Governor Romney has promised even greater "deforms" along these lines which will only accelerate the division of our country between the rich and poor.

I believe in the American experiment:  E pluribus unum.  From many, one.  We cannot succeed as a people if our efforts are divided between different "markets" or if only some of the people prosper.  There are some enterprises, such as public education, which require public - and not private - action.  We need public education - not because it is profitable - but because it is necessary for a free people to remain free.