From “Randi Weingarten’s Ugly Endorsement and the War Against Poor Students:”
The facts about kids in the country’s public schools are as hard as they are cold. The majority of students live in poverty now. Schools in America remain deeply segregated by both race and opportunity.
What’s strange, however, is the unwillingness of Weingarten and many self-regarding teachers to acknowledge that the reality they say they cannot change — one where poverty and parenting are insurmountable — is the reality with which they must now deal. Poor kids from tough places are no longer the outlier in America’s schools — they’re the majority of students. No amount of handwringing or heartache will change this in our lifetime…
Teaching is at a crossroads in this country but the issue isn’t which way we proceed with value-added scores or licensure and certification. It’s whether you’re up to the challenge of teaching poor kids or you’re not. There are no “better kids” waiting in the wings. There is no rosy scenario where poor kids in the hood have college-educated parents reading them lilting poetry in the evenings.
If Weingarten and teachers she leads are having such a dream, they need to wake up from it this morning.
