Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/58727
ciation members in front of the Paramount Theater to spell out why Rhee's agenda is wrong. Teachers carried protest signs with messages such as "Why is the 1% Banking on Rhee-Form?" and "Seniority Honors Experience." Another sign urged the public to "Rhee-fute, Rhee-ject, Rhee-fuse" the true goals of Rhee, whose corporate backers want to weaken unions. Other Oakland educators taped their mouths shut to dramatize Rhee's opinions that unions have little or no role in negotiat- ing school policy decisions. "Oakland teachers are no strangers to California voters since 1993), ending senior- ity-based teacher layoffs, using unreliable testing data to grade teachers, and weaken- ing collective bargaining rights. "She seems to be all about privatizing public schools and scapegoating teachers, which is a very divisive agenda," says CTA President Dean E. Vogel. "California educa- tors know that proven reforms like smaller class sizes, more collaboration among all stakeholders, and adequate funding are what really work for our students and our communities." A Teach for Americ a alumna who has advised con- servative governors launching anti-union education reforms, Rhee has vowed to raise $1 bil- lion over five years to carry out her schemes through her Sac- ramento-based political lobby- ing operation, StudentsFirst. Recently, as Rhee has been what happens when corporate reform- ers pretend to 'stand for children' — their real agenda is about undermining union protections and creating a false separation between teachers and our students," says Betty Olson-Jones, president of the Oak- land Education Association. "We know that teachers' working conditions are our stu- dents' learning conditions, and we wanted to give Michelle Rhee the clear message that her brand of 'reform' is not welcome in Oakland!" The Bay Area members are not alone in Rhee has vowed to raise $1 billion over five years to carry out her education schemes. traveling around the state on a speaking tour sharing her reform ideas, she's been greeted by public educators. More than 200 Bay Area teachers, parents and students showed up to protest outside an Oakland theater before Rhee's Feb. 7 event. Teachers from San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose, Union City, Richmond and San Lorenzo joined Oakland Education Asso- their protest. Sacramento City Teachers Association President Scott Smith joined other teachers wearing blue tape across their mouths in a silent protest at a Jan. 25 Rhee speech in Sacramento, where she was joined by her husband, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. Cali- fornia Federation of Teach- ers members leafleted when she spoke in Marin Feb. 6. Craig Childress, president of the San Mateo Union High School District Teach- ers Association, joined his executive board member Suzanne Flecker and others to leaflet and educate people entering a San Mateo venue to hear Rhee speak on Feb. 8. "I think she is spreading misinforma- tion and that her messages are dangerous for public education," Childress says. "Her attacks on seniority-based layoffs are about depriving students of experienced teachers. Experience breeds success, and excellence in the classroom and seniority are based on experience." Rhee attacked seniority-based layoffs again in her Feb. 15 speech at a school in Los Angeles. Her next scheduled appearance is a March 22 town hall meeting in San Jose, according to a Rhee watchdog website that tracks her events and controversial career, www.rheefirst.com. Classroom teachers know what works best for their students, says Vogel. "The best school reforms come from conversation, not confrontation, among all of us dedicated to keeping our public schools improving in these tough economic times." By Mike Myslinski Michelle Rhee in her own words COLLABORATION: "I think if there is one thing I have learned over the last 15 months, it's that cooperation, collaboration and consensus-building are way overrated." (September 2008 Aspen Institute's education summit, quoted by Washington Post) BARGAINING RIGHTS: "Unions can collectively bargain over basic things like salary, but they don't have a place in getting involved in policies, and so I think that the move to limit what they bargain over is incredibly important." (Fox News Channel, March 2011) UNION'S ROLE: "People tell me the unions are an inevitable part of this [school reform]. My thing is, what has that gotten us so far? All the collaboration and holding hands and singing 'Kumbaya'?" (2008 roundtable talk at Fordham Institute, Washington Post) TEACHER JOB RIGHTS: "Teacher tenure is in place to protect ineffective teachers, not students. It essentially gives teachers a job for life." (From Rhee's StudentsFirst website) TEACHER CREATIVITY: "People say, 'Well, you know, test scores don't take into account creativity and the love of learning.' … I'm like, 'You know what? I don't give a crap.' Don't get me wrong. Creativity is good and whatever. But if children don't know how to read, I don't care how creative you are. You're not doing your job." (Time magazine story, Nov. 26, 2008, with infamous picture of Rhee on the cover holding a broom in a classroom) March 2012 / www.cta.org 37 CTA Photo by Mike Myslinski