Month: February 2014

In a recent blog post for The Washington Post, Valerie Strauss discusses actor Matt Damon’s most recent defense of teachers. Damon has had a history of speaking out on behalf of educators in America. I had the privilege of being at the 2011 Save Our Schools rally in Washington D.C. when he gave an impassioned speech defending teachers and attacking the current trends that are threatening public education today. In that speech, he mentioned “corporate reformers” who had never taught a day in their lives making decisions about what happens in classrooms across the country. In his most recent speech, he states, “I’ve always believed that they have to invite teachers into the discussion to help design policy. We would never let business men design warheads, why would you cut out educators when you’re designing education policy?” This is approximately the same question I ask consistently, to anyone who will listen. This is the same question that the American public needs to start asking as well. And not just who is guiding educational policy, but why? Why are wealthy private citizens and corporations trying (and often succeeding) to shape the future of public education? Why are they so determined to paint teachers as money-hungry, over-compensated, and only in education because it is a cush job? Have any of them ever spent a day with a room full of 5 year olds? Or adolescent, hormonal middle schoolers? I dare any of them to live a teacher’s life for one week. However, until the American public stands up for public education, these private entities will continue to yield an unreasonable amount of power and influence. After all, education is funded by public dollars, politicians determine where public dollars get spent, and private corporations bankroll politicians’ careers. In the meantime though, I do appreciate Matt Damon’s efforts on our behalf.
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Save Our Schools