Monday, December 22, 2014

Why Teachers Need Guns - Accountable Talk Blog

Today, ed deformer David Brooks examined police unions in a similar manner as teacher unions have come under scrutiny in his NY Times column. It won't be long before there are demands for a VAM approach to cops' performance. See my Wave column  on Teaching and Policing

Is Patrick Lynch leading police into the same kind of hell Randi led teachers?
....despite both being part of powerful unions, teachers and police are treated very differently by politicians and the media. Why is that?.... http://www.accountabletalk.com/2014/12/why-teachers-need-guns.html
This fits right into a theme I've been working on - comparing policing to teaching and how the attacks have come on teachers - Blogger Accountable Talk takes aim:

Why Teachers Need Guns

It's time to arm teachers.

But not for the reasons you might think. Allow me to explain.
 
Here's what has NOT happened in the wake of the Eric Garner case in NYC:
  • Governor Cuomo has NOT made it a major policy issue to break the PBA, which he clearly does not consider a monopoly like the UFT.
  • He has NOT demanded a new evaluation system of any sort that would help weed out the "bad" cops.
  • Eva Moskowitz has NOT called for the opening of a series of "Police Success Academies" to study best practices for police officers.
  • Wendy Kopp has NOT opened a "Kopps for America" boot camp to train tightly selected individuals to patrol the city's most dangerous streets after six weeks of training.
  • Campbell Brown has NOT called the unrest in minority neighborhoods (ignited by incidents like the Garner case and the cop who twice punched a subdued teenaged boy) the "civil rights issue of our time". 
  • Campbell has likewise NOT called for an end to seniority rights nor job protections of police officers, nor has she filed a lawsuit to end those rights.
  • The New York Post has NOT written stories on a daily basis vilifying police officers.
No, all those things were directed at teachers.
More at http://www.accountabletalk.com/2014/12/why-teachers-need-guns.html

6 comments:

Mr. Talk said...

I knew the uptick in visits to my blog had to be due to something. Thanks for the plug.

I do think a comparison between the teachers and police unions would be important. Why do cops get the kid glove treatment while we get the boxing glove? I know they have better leadership--Lynch has managed to take a video-taped attack by one of his members and turn it into a public relations coup. I'd admire the genius of it if the tactic wasn't so reprehensible.

Anonymous said...

Why do teachers get the boxing glove? Because we cower in the corner of the ring whimpering, "Please don't hurt us" instead of punching back. When the majority of us are willing to stand our ground in the center of the ring, throwing blow after blow, we'll get more respect. Mulgrew will only threaten to throw a punch... and only toward someone who wants to eliminate common core. Mulgrew is the ineffective trainer whose sole technique is to tell us to duck and cover while we get the shit beat out of us again and again and again. Roseanne Mccosh

ed notes online said...

Roseanne - are you making the case for teachers to have guns? I hope people don't call for Mulgrew to be Patrick Lynch. Fact is - Mulgrew could make all kinds of militant pronouncements but words don't mean much - action does. Action would include targeting the worst schools in the city in terms of bullying management - and make them cases of public humiliation.

Anonymous said...

No, Norm. I'm advocating fighting back using the boxing ring as a metaphor. Action--not words. I agree with you. That's why I said Mulgrew will only THREATEN to throw a punch. He talks tough but does nothing. I'm certainly not advocating that teachers arm themselves or commit acts of violence. Targeting the worst administrator bullies would be my idea of standing our ground in the center of the ring. I hope this clarifies my position. Roseanne

ed notes online said...

I agree on what the UFT needs to do. They are doing a bit of this behind the scenes in a few places -- but it is covert - I guess they don't want to anger their buddies in the CSA. Actually I have a great story about one school where the union is doing this but can't write about it.

Anonymous said...

Last year some of us wrote to our district rep complaining about 2 abusive APs. I was one of the teachers who wrote in support of a colleague. (I had no problems with my AP). Marcus Escobar came to our school to meet with us about it. We appreciated the quick response and the union's presence in our school. But the fact is we teachers made the noise. We built the momentum and kept it going. We helped each other document the BS. Three of us spent weekends emailing each other and revising and editing emails to administration(and one to the chancellor) so we could help build a case to protect a particular teacher against a particular abusive AP. It took time and energy and turned into a part time job but we were going to go down swinging and we were willing to go down together. We played it smart and tough and we had right on our side. And the whole time, as I helped coordinate all this, I kept thinking that the UFT leadership should have personnel in place to do what I was doing----assisting the teacher with the "talking points" and helping her frame her arguments as well as ask pointed, specific questions....the answers to which would help her case. The AP is gone. The teacher is having a great year thus far with her new and fair minded AP. Roseanne