Not Everyone Drinks the Kool Aid

Gail Collins watched the propaganda film, yet refrained from going out and burning down the home of a teacher.  That's what we can call progress these days.  Yet those who get their news from the tabloids already think we're a group of satanists, probably don't need to see the film to buttress their prejudices, and will go on hating us and everything we stand for regardless.

But it leaves me hopeful that thoughtful people without agendas may actually watch the film and seek other news sources, rather than blindly accepting the union-busting agenda of the privatizers.

Charter schools, please, stop. I had no idea you selected your kids with a piece of performance art that makes the losers go home feeling like they’re on a Train to Failure at age 6. You can do better. Use the postal system. 

Frankly, that sort of drama is unconscionable.  Every kid deserves a good school, despite the fact that Bloomberg and Klein have thrown up their hands and done nothing to provide them.  But vilifying teacher unions makes good soundbytes, and more importantly, makes people look the other way.

...halfway through, the narrator casually mentions that only about a fifth of American charter schools “produce amazing results.” 

In fact, a study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes found that only 17 percent did a better job than the comparable local public school, while more than a third did “significantly worse.”

That doesn't sound like Superman to me.  Collins concludes it's time to save real public schools, and I couldn't agree more.   Me, I'm waiting for mass sanity.

I sure hope it comes soon!