Comments on NYC Educator: Martin Luther King's Legacy

That's not correct, but I suppose if you ignor...

2012-01-17T05:50:53.909-05:00

That's not correct, but I suppose if you ignore everything else Obama does at the behest of the Billionaire Boys Club, you can differentiate at vouchers, which have proven to be a loser with the public. Were it not, had the "reformers" not largely abandoned it, I suspect that would be different.

Good grief. What was the central pillar of John M...

2012-01-16T21:46:16.897-05:00

Good grief.

What was the central pillar of John McCain's education platform? Providing every parent/guardian of a K-12 child with a full-fledged voucher to use at the school of his or her choice. Can you imagine how many NYC DOE schools would simply cease to exist if no-strings-attached vouchers came to New York City? I think 75% would be an extremely conservative guess.

Who is strongly and vehemently opposed to vouchers, be it on a national scale like the plan proposed by McCain or even on a local level? Yes, Barack Obama.

Maybe you and whatever you're projecting onto the memory of MLK Jr. ought to cut Obama a little slack.

As I read the various comments, I am reminded that...

2012-01-16T19:25:21.603-05:00

As I read the various comments, I am reminded that the reason I got into teaching in the first place was to fight the war on poverty. And we really made a difference in the lives of a lot of poor kids who got recognized for the content of their character. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an educated man who would have recognized the blatent racism inherent in the NYC public school system under Bloomberg, and he would have spoken against the deliberate dumbing down of the education being given disproportionately to children of color here and across the country.

If you read the post, Tim, you will notice I was c...

2012-01-16T19:04:13.077-05:00

If you read the post, Tim, you will notice I was comparing Obama's education record with McCain's proposals. I was not referring to anything whatsoever that you mention. I regret that was not clear to you. In fact, Diane Ravitch wrote an entire column stating that Obama gave Bush a 3rd term in education.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-ravitch/obama-gives-bush-a-3rd-te_b_215277.html

You may recall Obama stating if labor were in trouble, he'd find a pair of comfortable shoes and march with us. I do.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/03/952072/-A-Comfortable-Pair-Of-Shoes-For-Obama

I know MLK did not need to look for his.

Yup, no substantial differences between Obama and ...

2012-01-16T18:51:55.333-05:00

Yup, no substantial differences between Obama and what McCain would have done. It's safe to say that McCain would have also tapped Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to join the Supreme Court, just to give one example. McCain would have also certainly signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or, as derisive Republicans would have called it, "McCainaCare," into law. But the icing on your argument's cake is how happy and content the Republican party and interests like the national Chamber of Commerce are with President Obama. Don't pay any attention to those single-digit approval ratings and angry dog-whistling rants -- it's all a smokescreen for a grass-roots Red State movement to repeal the Twenty-Second Amendment!

I have no idea who Martin Luther King Jr. would be standing with today--after all, a lot has happened in the last forty-five years. But I'm pretty sure that if he was standing with you, he'd ask you to refrain from saying stupid shit like Obama=McCain.

Kudos to your inspired piece! You brought out the...

2012-01-16T13:52:34.031-05:00

Kudos to your inspired piece! You brought out the many reasons why MLK fought for social justice. If he were alive today, he would wonder why Geoffrey Canada turned his back on our children by casting them out as liability. He would be appalled that Obama allowed Duncan to push for these separate-and-unequal charter schools that displace our special needs children or ELLs. He would be outraged that Walcott decides to uphold the Mayor4Life-Mr.1%'s decision of closing public schools that have a high percentage of minority children and just warehouse them from one phasing out school to the next one. Did any of those men ever read MLK's speeches, did they ever understand MLK's fight for social justice? Apparently, not.

I will always remember how much I cried in school on hearing that MLK was assasinated. Thank you for such a wonderful piece reminding everyone that his dream shall not die.

Great piece. It's disgusting how faux-Democrat...

2012-01-16T12:15:32.967-05:00

Great piece. It's disgusting how faux-Democrats invoke King's legacy while doing everything possible to sully it. The problem with education today isn't teachers, it's the social injustice that keeps the disadvantaged at the bottom. Test prep, merit pay, and school closings will never alter the fact that the 1% like things as they are.

Great point to keep reminding people of what MLK w...

2012-01-16T11:57:30.461-05:00

Great point to keep reminding people of what MLK was doing for unionism when he was killed. He would be standing with teachers today.

No worries :)

2012-01-16T10:00:16.688-05:00

No worries :)

A slam dunk!

2012-01-16T09:40:43.477-05:00

A slam dunk!

Thanks for your kind words and I apologize for mak...

2012-01-16T09:29:06.314-05:00

Thanks for your kind words and I apologize for making you more nervous than was absolutely necessary.

I was worried there for a moment that I would have...

2012-01-16T09:14:35.478-05:00

I was worried there for a moment that I would have to be looking for a job during Regents week. At 19 years on the job no way will I be part of the 50% that remains. What I don't get is how this turnaround plan solves the issue of no new teacher evaluation plan.

Very good post!

Bravo!

2012-01-16T08:39:20.644-05:00

Bravo!

You may be right. I got this date from several fra...

2012-01-16T08:36:25.320-05:00

You may be right. I got this date from several frantic emails I've received from teachers in these schools, saying they need to reapply for their jobs. If you can send me something substantiating your suggestion, I'll alter the post.

It's my understanding that the plan to convert...

2012-01-16T08:13:02.279-05:00

It's my understanding that the plan to convert the transformation and restart schools to turnaround is supposed to happen in September, not February. Might I ask, why do you think it is mid-year?

Love it. If I may simplify for myself... Student...

2012-01-16T07:09:42.043-05:00

Love it.

If I may simplify for myself...

Students, Parents, Teachers, and MLK on one side...Bloomberg, Cuomo, Klein, Duncan, Murdoch, Gates, Broad, Waltons, Moskowitz, Rahm Emanuel, Michelle Rhee, Whitney Tilson, and the like, on the other.

Great post.