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LETTERS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, I retired from teaching high school in June and I am so tired of all of this teach- er bashing. I agree with Sherry Posnick- Goodwin’s article “The blame game” in the October Educator that the majority of teachers are dedicat- ed to their students and their craft. I think the real problem lies in the apathy of most of the students. When so many students are only concerned with their appearance, their iPods and their cell phones, it doesn’t matter how good the teachers are. Karin Holman the 24 California Educator | 2010 Liberty Education Association Who’s teaching L.A.’s kids? blame reforms that weaken the school system they seek to help. In the following article, California Educator writer Sherry Posnick-Goodwin examines some of the reasons behind this new trend of teacher bashing and its impact on the profession. Teachers today are facing a wave of criticism from the media like never be- fore, being made scapegoats for the deficiencies of the public school sys- tem. Films like Waiting for Superman and The Lottery, along with maga- zine cover stories from major news outlets like Time and Newsweek, and “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” portray educators as the problem and are backing game I’m not a teacher, but I grew up wanting to be one. w up wa e on I was in college when Proposition 13 passed and teaching jobs dried up in California. So instead I became a journalist. When newspaper jobs began to dry up, I was fortunate to land a position at CTA writing about teachers and public education. In a roundabout way it was coming full circle, working in a different way on behalf of public education. I have had conversations with thousands of d pu I’ve met believe they are making the world a better place and care deeply about helping their students achieve their full potential. They may work long hours, take work home with them, and pay for school supplies out of their own pockets, but they love what they do. I am constantly amazed at how they are able to do so much with so little. In the classrooms I visit, I see meaningful teaching and learning taking place. When I first started covering public education, it was assumed that teachers were the good guys. (To me they still are.) But these days it seems like teach- ers are under attack like never before. A few months ago, the cover of Newsweek showed 11 sentences teachers through this job and volunteering in my children’s schools. I can truthfully say I haven’t met one teacher who seemed to have signed on for the money, for the glory, or because it was easy. Those Dear Editor, Thank you for your article on “The blame game” in the October 2010 California Edu- cator. The challenge we face is making sure everyone in our state understands the complexity of the issues in public education, and that we call out the lazy journalism and politi- cal plans. We need to insist that arguments about education are built on logic and valid research, and that the demands for academic rigor don’t exist only within the 2010 | www.cta.org 25 classroom. You don’t earn an A just be- cause you write in all caps, and we don’t teach our students that the best response to a difficult question can be fit into a 30-second sound-bite. Steve Schessler Gavilan College Faculty Association comments Send us your Letters to the editor regarding stories appearing in California Educator may be sent via mail, fax or e-mail. address: California Educator Magazine CTA Communications 1705 Murchison Drive Burlingame, CA 94010-4583 fax: e-mail: (650) 552-5002 editor@cta.org UPDATE UPDATE at a San Mateo County school portrayed negatively in the fl awed documentary Wait- ing for Superman (see “The blame game” in the October Educator), parents at Woodside High School unfurled a huge banner in October that praises educators. The defi - ant banner reads: “Woodside High School Teachers — Man, You’re Super! Thank you for teaching ALL the students in our com- munity!” It’s prominently displayed on a fence in front of the campus and easily seen by drivers who pass by. Woodside High parent Anne Kopf- Sill organized the push for donations for the banner, designed by parent Amber Ramies. Kopf-Sill was concerned with all the negative national publicity for the school generated by the emotional fi lm, which 6 California Educator | NOVEMBER 2010 Parents’ banner praises ‘super’ teachers at Woodside High In a public show of support for teachers follows fi ve students who want to get into charter schools and hope to be selected in public lotteries. One of the students, fearful of going to Woodside High, ends up being picked to enter a nearby charter. Kopf-Sill is not opposed to charters; she’s upset at the way the fi lm slights the diverse school her two sons attend and fails to stress that public schools accept all stu- dents. “I wanted to do something,” she says of her need to respond in a public way. “My children have great teachers at Woodside.” She joined other parents in pushing a coff ee cart through the halls of the school, providing free java for educators as a show of gratitude. The banner and the coff ee were much appreciated, says Woodside High teacher Gregory Gruszynski, who is president of the Sequoia District Teachers ABOVE: Woodside High teacher Gregory Gruszynski, left, says teachers greatly appreciate the banner effort launched by parent Anne Kopf-Sill. Association, representing educators in the Sequoia Union High School District. “Teachers really appreciated the mes- sage,” Gruszynski says of the banner. “I think every teacher here is very proud to be teaching at this school.”