Monday, March 2, 2009

Ed in the Apple/Peter Goodman...


...is a shill for the UFT Propaganda Machine

Ed In the Apple/Peter Goodman as just another mouthpiece for the UFT leadership policies that have aided and abetted the gutting of public education. Goodman is using the Ed in the Apple blog as one of the arms of the propaganda machine to justify UFT policy.

Goodman's post
Beware of Geeks Bearing Formulas: Is the Rush to Data the “New Stupid,?” Education Must Begin With Kids and Teachers reveals much about how the levels the Unity Caucus machine operates on.

Talk about Greeks bearing gifts when Ed/Peter Goodman – former District 22 rep and long-time and current employee of the UFT – writes:

"... the priorities Obama set in his Tuesday night speech were troubling: accountability, charter schools, data and national standards"

Let's see now.

Goodman doesn't quite mention the UFT's two charter schools (in one of the great cases of nepotism- his son Drew Goodman was chosen as principal of the UFT middle school charter after a supposedly expensive nation-wide search – and then removed after complaints from teachers).

Or the UFT support for the use of data reports of teachers.

Or the UFT's support of performance bonuses.

Or the fact that Goodman was on being paid to make judgments to close schools, including my alma mater Thomas Jefferson HS (yes, I do hold grudges).

And in a previous piece,
Whispering in Arne’s Ear: Is He Joel/Michelle in Drag, or, Will He Listen to the Folks in Classrooms? Goodman tries to give the impression Arne Duncan can go either way, ignoring Duncan's complete Joel Klein-like agenda in Chicago.

The UFT propaganda machine tries to minimize the nationwide attack on public schools and make it look like our problems in NYC are because of Joel Klein's personality.

Thus Randi Weingarten praised the Duncan appointment.

And there's this disingenuous "If you can get Joel and Randi to agree upon the use of this data I have an assignment for you in the Middle East." The goal is to pass on the propaganda that Randi somehow stands up to Klein even when in fact she agreed to the data reports in the first place to "help the teachers."

Yes Ed/Peter, there will be peace in the middle east before we see the UFT do what a union should be doing.

5 comments:

NYC Educator said...

Goodman also forgot the UFT's partnership with Green Dot, which specifically excludes tenure and seniority from its "union" contracts.

But hey, they pay dues, and that ought to be enough for anyone.

David Ballela said...

I wonder whether Goodman is a salaried UFT official or if gets paid by the amount of words he uses in his pompous blog post titles. Also how many pensions does he get?

Under Assault said...

Last night I tried posting a comment over there to tell people to read this Ednotes blog as an antidote. Either it didn't go through or someone decided it's better to let the spin stand without all that missing background information you're providing. My guess the latter.

Anonymous said...

Its funny that Goodman mentions "data driven management" in his posting, as a teacher who work at the school run by his son, this was one of his favorite bits of rhetoric. The younger Goodman was all talk like his father but when it came time to put his money where this mouth was he was impotent. this is coming from a person who witnessed him teach social studies multiple times, his supposed subject area of certification before his daddy hooked him up with at job.

norm petterson said...

The union is as bad as the board, no arguments there, but if you saw Drew teach and worked in the charter school you can only be a few people. Why would you be afraid to identify yourself?