A Teachable Moment

The release in New York City of the ratings of teachers on the basis of their students’ performance on standardized tests, data which is know to be highly flawed, is a new low for the scumbags who believe that we can improve our public schools by shaming our teachers into doing a better job. When Bill Gates and Chancellor Meryl Tisch, two committed leaders of the testocracy, are alarmed by this event, even the diehards ought to pause. In predictable fashion, the New York Times, which litigated to obtain teacher scores, has started to showcase higher scoring teachers, giving them a dubiously deserved celebrity which will inevitably isolate them in their schools and, much worse, create the impression that the other teachers in the school are undesirable. It’s enough to make one puke. The only hopeful note is a report suggesting that city teachers have had enough and are ready to fight. We could well use their leadership in that direction! If the public humiliation of teachers doesn’t cause a militant response, there will be no hope lest for the education labor movement.