The Education Wars III

I spent time listening to a conference call tonight about abuse in public schools including teacher abuse, which will actually done weekly. About 50 people were on the line to hear NAPTA president Karen Horwitz talk about her horror story at Avoca School District in Illinois, and a New York parent whose story is just unbelievably tragic. He has a website in memory of his son here.

Next week one of the scheduled speakers is Jo Blase, a college professor who with her husband, Joseph, has written a book about principal abuse of teachers, Breaking the Silence. Although published six years ago, the message has gone unheeded by school districts around the country, and the situation has gotten worse with the NCLB and privatization mantra.

Here is my email about the conference call:

On Sunday, August 30, 2009, at 7PM Eastern time, a coalition of activist parents, NAPTA educators (teachers and other educators who stood up so as not to harm children and were subsequently harassed or psychologically bludgeoned for having done so) as well as NAPTA members will be participating in a group conference call on education reform lasting approximately 1 - 1/2 hours. We will brainstorm how best to break through the tax subsidized propaganda, and force the truths about White Chalk Crime, the organized takeover of our schools, out of the darkness and into a place whereby the powers that be have to force change. This is the beginning of an effort to mobilize our grass roots movement into a formidable voice that can no longer be marginalized, dismissed, and most of all retaliated against into silence.

This will be the first conference call as we unite to counter the powerful forces that EducRAT$ use to keep the truth covered up. I will be one of the speakers who will help describe the plight of teachers and how this purposeful slaughter of good teachers along with the manipulative elevation of bad teachers ensures that nothing changes in education. As long as most parents believe it is impossible to fire bad teachers, most parents will blame teachers. NAPTA teachers must help teach them that this manipulation of truth helps focus anger at the wrong people. EducRAT$ can fire teachers. They can easily push teachers out. We KNOW this as ones who have been cleansed from the system despite our awards and accolades. But somehow we need to get this truth over the well entrenched lies so that parents can begin to direct their anger where it will effect change. We must counter the divide and conquer teachers and parents tactic that has held our schools hostage from parents for so long.

Unfortunately, although parents and teachers need to work together to build the kind of power needed to scale these overwhelming mountains of propaganda, the potentially good teachers trying to survive in our dysfunctional schools are unable to help parents. They are afraid to speak the truth in forums such as this and worse yet are afraid to speak the truth at conferences designed to help their own students! Because they know they must follow orders or suffer severe psychological assault, they follow orders that betray our children. (And we can vouch for the severity of this assault!) And the cycle goes on, with parents more convinced than ever that teachers are the problem.

We intend to start a parade of all who care about children with the hopes that in time those teachers who are following orders can stand up in unity and speak out so that the power will shift into the hands of those who care about children. We need educators or anyone who works in schools and knows the truth as well as citizens who are tired of seeing their taxes squandered to join with parents who are determined to shift the power from the hands of the greedy, self-serving administrators and school boards back into the hands of the public where it belongs. We deserve schools that exist for the sake of the children and are led by professionals who care about children, not schools that are focused on power and money. Much if not all that is bad about our society stems from our corrupt schools. So whether you are concerned about how our schools abuse children, abuse teachers, discriminate racially, squander funds, incur drop outs, or the fact that this nation is going down the tubes with the schools we have, participating in this is for you.

If you call in, no one will have access to your phone number or be able to identify you. (If you are really frightened about being part of this, you can *67 your number so it will not show up in any caller ID system.) However, some callers will be able to speak. Please let me know if you wish to speak as we will need to provide you with an additional number. I cannot guarantee there will be time for all who wish to speak to do so, however.

Also, if you do not have access to free long distance, consider contacting a friend and conferencing on their phone as most cell phones have free long distance on weekends. Please pass this onto other concerned friends as this is not limited to NAPTA members. All are welcome to participate in this call and of course all are welcome to join NAPTA and expand our voice.

The number to call at 7 PM Eastern time is: 212-990-8000 and the pin#, for which they will ask you is 1445# (pound).

Please contact me if you have any other questions or suggestions.