Grassroots movement of the day:
Matt Damon defends teachers.
I was attending this Save Our Schools rally with my mother—and fortunately, I got to be in the tents where Matt Damon wrestled with the press—and despite a long intro with too many speakers, Damon really was impressive in his tenacity and passion about the issue of education “reform” in America today. Those who are protesting the heavily-supported (even by President Obama himself) reforms such as charter schools and standardized testing have, despite a growing extremist sentiment, an argument for purist education that is strongly justifiable. Our country was not created to become a factory to create drone-students, nor was it created to introduce education to the competitive jaws of the business model. Just as journalism struggles with the business model and its realities, education is becoming a fight between the boards, the teachers and the students. Having passion for a profession doesn’t necessitate a need for money, a striving for competition. Education should not be a competitive melee between every student, and the business model should stop encouraging that.
Check out my mom’s blog on the education universe today.
-Abigail