Are Teachers Under Fire?
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In this era of political polarization, public school teachers are getting heat from both sides: leftist reformers and right-wing union busters. We hear how demoralized teachers are responding to some of the harshest attacks. Also, President Obama says Gadhafi must go. On Reporter's Notebook, Presidents Obama and Calderón address free trade, organized crime and other issues.
Banner image: Patricia Fairclough, a reading coach teacher and the 2010 teacher of the year, joins a protest against possible cuts in funding for arts programs in the schools on March 2, 2011 in Miami, Florida. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Making News
Obama says Gadhafi Must Go ()
At a joint news conference with Mexico's President Felipe Calderón, Barack Obama had harsh words for Moammar Gadhafi, saying that Libya's President had "lost the legitimacy to lead" and must leave, adding that "the aspirations of the Libyan people for freedom, democracy and dignity must be met." Spencer Ackerman blogs at the Danger Room at Wired magazine.
Guests:
- Spencer Ackerman: Senior Reporter, Wired's 'Danger Room' blog
Links:
Main Topic
Education, State Finance and Teacher Bashing ()
The top priority for most Americans is education, and public school teachers around the country say the past two years have been a nightmare. Reformers, from the President on down, are pushing to abolish seniority, hold teachers accountable for student performance and even close some schools altogether. Has that paved the way for teachers to become punching bags for Republican Governors who want to balance budgets and bust public sector unions? Will bashing teachers improve education? Are they being scape-goated for conditions they didn't create and can't change?
Guests:
- Kay McSpadden: English Teacher, York Comprehensive High School
- Lisa Graham Keegan: Founder, Education Breakthrough Network
- Diane Ravitch: Research Professor of Education, New York University, @DianeRavitch
- Leonie Haimson: Founding Member, Parents across America
Links:
- Waiting for 'Superman' (movie)
- Central Falls High School (TtP feature on)
- Parents Union
- Parent Trigger
- CREDO National Charter School Study (Stanford)
- Accountability Report: Charter Schools (Center for Education Reform)
- Charter School Achievement (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools)
- McSpadden's 'Notes from a Classroom: Reflections on Teaching'
- Ravitch's 'The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Undermine Education'
- Ravitch on why teachers are enraged (CNN)
Reporter's Notebook
Obama Meets Mexico's President Calderon ()
The presidents of Mexico and the United States met in Washington today to try to improve relations the two countries, which have suffered over the release of US diplomatic cables critical of Mexico's handling of its drug war and last month's murder of an American law enforcement officer on a busy Mexican highway. At a joint press conference, President Obama pledged to stand with President Calderón in that country's bloody drug war. Eric Olson is a senior associate at the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Guests:
- Eric Olson: Senior Associate, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Mexico Institute
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