What
This Is…
Issue #80- September 23,
2012
In this issue: Suits vs.
Dungarees- Class Warfare Continues, Public Educators Fight Back
The
Suits vs. The Dungarees…
We are in the middle of
the latest confrontation between social classes in the United States. It isn't surprising that those who have
wealth and power would want to maintain their control of the system. This is a trademark of almost every
civilization in human history. In many
societies, the powerful were able to maintain their status through brute force
and physical control of the rest of the population (Feudalism for
example). Here in the United States, like other
democracies, they have to play the game by a different set of rules or else
forfeit their claims of controlling power through legitimate means.
In America success
is defined by your material possessions and other types of wealth. The "American Dream" revolves
around the accumulation of "stuff" and the size of your economic
portfolio. While many can argue that
there are other ways that we measure success, the reality is that most people
who are considered "successful" are also wealthy. We also can't ignore the fact that with the
existing rules regarding campaign financing and lobbying, wealth also equals
political power.
This relationship between
wealth and power means that our democracy is being dragged away from its core
philosophical roots and becoming more of an oligarchy. There is a reasonable argument that we have
always had a semblance of a ruling class, but our current laws, policies and
economic conditions are widening the gap between those who have power and those
who are on the outside looking in. This
has been made abundantly clear in places like Wisconsin where the voice of many citizens
has been ignored while the opinions of a few are clearly heard.
There is a significant
amount of data that shows that Republican policies do little to benefit any
groups except for those with the top incomes in America and that they actually
harm the rest of us. Obviously there are
only a relatively small number of voters who can reside in the top economic
tiers of our society, and a much larger percentage of citizens who fall in the
middle, working and lower classes. It
would seem that this would make it virtually impossible for the economic elite
to maintain their political power, unless they can somehow use their wealth and
power to influence the electoral process.
That is the question that
so many of us are asking, why do so many people vote against their own
interests and support a party that doesn't get results for them? One of the answers is the, often successful,
efforts to divide and conquer the electorate through a barrage of issues,
rhetoric and propaganda that sets different groups against each other. This is done through the GOP as well as by
"private" citizens acting on behalf of the Republican Party.
In the end, the net effect
is to create an atmosphere of us vs. them.
A society where the "other" is always trying to take something
away from you. WKRP, one of my all time
favorite TV shows, nailed this phenomena in the "Suits vs. Dungarees"
conversation between Les and Herb.
By dividing the population
the GOP is able to reduce conversation and cooperation between groups who share
common needs and interests. They create
a climate that makes people suspicious of those who are different from each
other, or who are strangers to one another.
In doing so they undermine trust in our public services and deliver
propaganda that leads people away from solutions.
www.buzzfeed.com
I teach 4th and 5th
graders, children who are a time in their lives where friends become a huge
influence on their lives. We spend a
significant amount of time talking about what makes someone a good friend. One of the criteria that we have students
consider in a good friend is that the person helps you become a better
person. A good friend doesn't lead you
towards bad choices and supports your efforts to do your best in positive
activities. Voters need to think along
these lines and realize that the current GOP rhetoric is leading us toward a
society that doesn't value education, doesn't respect diversity and advocates
using any method possible to accumulate personal wealth, even at the expense of
others. In other words, I wouldn't want
to be "friends" with most of the current Republican candidates. Their policies don't appear to be about
making America
a better nation for all citizens, just a select few.
Are the GOP's efforts to
divide us succeeding? That is a
difficult question to answer. In some
ways it appears that we are a truly divided nation, one where part of the
population sees the other part as the cause of all the problems we face. However, it is somewhat difficult to see if
this is a widespread problem, or if it is just the "public" face of America
today. When we are home, among people we
know, do we truly believe the hype and hyperbole about each other? Whatever the answer to this question is, the
reality is that when it comes to casting a ballot citizens are forced to choose
and too many are choosing to vote against their own interests.
As the current election
cycles heats up we are seeing signs of hope.
Signs that more and more people are "getting it" and
realizing, not only that they need to cast a ballot with thought and care, but
also that there are other ways to stand up for their rights and interests. People are seeing the need to stand up
against the wave of "reforms" and the efforts of a wealthy minority
to control the lives of all Americans.
By educating themselves and participating in democracy, not just
observing it, citizens are able to make their voice heard and their collective
power felt.
www.washingtonpost.com
Public Education, We
Can't Be Victimized…
Much of what is said,
printed and shared about public education today paints a bleak picture for its
future. We hear about the continuing
efforts to privatize our schools, the efforts to destroy educator unions and
eliminate the voice of educators from the debate, the reform efforts that work
against educating most children and of course the attacks on the abilities of
public educators to do their jobs.
Public educators are truly on the defensive in most public debates.
Fighting a defensive
battle is exactly what we can no longer afford to do. At best this will garner us support from
those who are going to "look out for us" or who feel sorry for our
plight. We don't need to be pitied or
felt sorry for. Instead we need to
realize that we are hardworking, very skilled individuals who do a demanding
job in a dedicated, caring and professional manner. We want the support of the public, but we
also need to gain their respect by advocating for ourselves and turning the
tables on those who want to eliminate public education in America.
Educators across America need to look at the efforts of the Chicago teachers and
realize that the fight for public education is a desperate one, but one that
must be fought in an assertive and proactive manner. Chicago
educators have been building community support for their schools and their
profession through a variety of methods.
Their efforts paid off as much of the public rallied with them during
their recent strike. The battle is won,
not in the media, but on the streets and in the neighborhoods. That is the strength that education reformers
and politicians who support them don't want public educators to utilize. We have connections and support in the
communities we serve and if we mobilize, that support will manifest itself in
powerful ways.
Schools Matter: Rothstein Considers the First Teacher Strike
Against Corporate Education Reform's No
Educators can't afford to
wait for someone else to take care of the problems that public education
faces. We need to be the ones to address
these problems and take control of our own futures. By doing this we will move public education
in a direction that is positive for all, not just those who stand to profit
from "reforming" our schools.
Of course this isn't
easy. Educators in Wisconsin face a hostile political and
economic environment. As I write this I
have just finished reading an email from MMSD stating that we will be losing
more take home pay due to additional "contributions" to our
pensions. We are facing an uncertain
future for our union and for our ability to negotiate with our
administration. While we are hopeful
that we will see our cause prevail in the courts, we can't be guaranteed
success. We are facing a school year
that begins with us receiving a full page of assessments that we are required
to subject our students to. Assessments
that in many ways don't give us meaningful information to help better educate
the children we serve. Assessments that
are more a bureaucratic exercise than an educational one.
www.marshfieldnewsherald.com
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Through all of this it is
difficult to maintain a steady, positive course. We celebrate our victories, in labor
relations, but more importantly in the classroom. Yet at the same time we fear for the future
and wonder if we can undo the damage done to our profession and our personal
economic situations. As a collective
group we are hurting, anxious and angry about the tone of the debate and the
attacks on the profession that we have dedicated our lives to.
Keeping a strong steady
and positive path is exactly what we must do.
This means advocating for ourselves, the students we serve and our
schools. Now, more than ever it is vital
that public educators make their voices heard by any means necessary. We are at a tipping point and if we go over
the edge it will be an incredibly long and difficult road to return public
education to a meaningful place in American society. There is no group better informed or better
able to articulate the needs that schools and students have. Without an educator voice at the bargaining
table, in committees and in the public eye all efforts to advocate for us
becomes paternalistic and demeaning.
We need to stop fighting
the battles on unfriendly ground. For
too long we have allowed the "reformers" to shape the debate using
test results or economic arguments. Our
schools need to be places of hope and growth for our students, not just another
obstacle to them achieving their goals.
By excessively testing, categorizing and eliminating opportunities
(cutting programs, arts, etc.) we allow "reformers" to make schools a
part of the existing power structure.
Schools are not just places to create better employees and rule
following citizens. Schools are where we
allow students to develop their strengths and learn to question the world
around them in positive and powerful ways.
Public educators across Wisconsin (and the
nation) must rise up and make our voices heard in the debate over public
schools. Now is our time, and if we
don't take it we may not get another chance for a very long time. The rights and privileges that we enjoy now
are the product of decades and centuries of fighting by our professional
ancestors and they are hard won. We have
a responsibility that goes along with these rights to utilize them in defense
of what we know is right.
More
Injustice In Wisconsin…
No one surrenders power
without a fight. Public workers have
shown a willingness to stand up and fight back when our rights are under
attack. It should be no surprise that
our opponents will do the same.
We must continue to
publicize the efforts of the Walker
administration to undermine public safety for the profit of a small
minority. The continuation of the debate
over the mining bill, restrictions on the rights of renters and countless other
examples of this effort need to be brought into the open. This is one way to reach voters and show them
that their interests aren't represented by the current administration.
Of course there's always
the continuing saga of Walkergate.
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