Issues in the Media

There have been a lot of relevant stories in the news. In today's New York Times, the chancellor of public schools in D.C. is resigning. Michelle Rhee is calling it quits. I didn't agree with her tactics, but it would have been interesting to see if they were effective. she battled the teachers' union. She abolished tenure and supported merit pay. With her absence, I'm not sure we will get a clear picture of the results of her efforts.

The recent story about the Rutgers student that committed suicide has everyone talking about digital media, social networking, and cyberbullying. My principal has been subtly pushing me to address bullying schoolwide. I think we have done a decent job of handling any bullying situations. My social worker went to a workshop that de-emphasized the use of the term "bullying". The rationale is that it can be vague and it often requires prolonged abuse. She proposed that we work on abolishing meanness. Even kids in kindergarten can identify something that's mean. They don't always understand bullying.

"Waiting for Superman" is taking the nation by storm. I haven't seen it yet, but I would like to. I'm not as defensive about the teaching profession as some of my colleagues. However, I do think that most people that bash teaching have no earthly idea what they are talking about. And they wouldn't last 5 minutes in front of a typical classroom.