Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Teachers - the Perpetual Scapegoats

In response to the "if only the teachers would cooperate, our schools could improve crowd" ala Chancellor Klein and Rev. Al Sharpton...

Teachers don’t create over-crowded schools and classrooms.
Teachers don’t ask for education budget cuts.
Teachers don’t advocate parents not read to their children.
Teachers don’t advocate corporal punishment of small children.
Teachers don’t support social welfare cuts that target children and make parenting more difficult.
Teachers don’t support economic policies that force parents to work two or more minimum wage jobs.
Teachers don’t emulate a media culture that romanticizes violence, is anti-intellectual and promotes a culture of frivolity.
Teachers don’t support health insurance policies that deny basic care to millions of our students.

What teachers do is, in spite of enormous obstacles, try desperately to help their students create their own futures, while fighting off being scapegoats for the racial injustice that is poverty.

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