The Weprin-Obama Education Movement
Michael Bloomberg may have shared a cup of coffee with Barack Obama, but the two have, apparently, a glaring difference of opinion when it comes to education.
At around the 5:20 mark in Obama’s victory speech from Wisconsin earlier this week, he said:
“And I won’t just talk about how great teachers are, I will reward them for their greatness, by giving them higher salaries. And giving them more support. And I want the highest standards in our schools. We have to have high standards, standards of excellence in order to compete in this global economy. But I don’t want our standards measured just by a single, high-stakes, standardized test, because I don’t want our teachers teaching to the test.”
Which seems to put Obama closer to Weprin's perspective than to Bloomberg's. When reached for comment, Weprin said, “It’s a goddamn movement, Azi.”
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 46.6
- 44.2
- Obama +2.4
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 55.8
- 35.8
- +20.0
- McCain
- 54.8
- 36.6
- +18.2
Hillary supports ending the obsession with standardized tests also!
Yes, especially those pesky, strictly-by-the-numbers primaries and caucuses! There should be some kind of a subjective free-form essay section in these contests, in which voters should be required to expound on just who is ready to be commander-in-chief on the all-important day one! Yeah, that's the ticket!
As a retired teacher, I am with Obama and Clinton on opposition to over-reliance on standardized testing. But Obama's platform seems to suggest that he favors a merit pay plan and extra pay for math and science teachers. This is wrong. Merit pay puts teachers against teachers in what should be a cooperative venture. Additionally, if a school district announces it is adopting merit pay and my child is a student there, I am going to go to the principal's office the first day of school and demand that my child is placed in the merit teacher's class. So, teachers are pitted against teachers and parents against parents. In judging which teacher will receive merit pay, it is a near impossible task to determine. Additionally, who gets the merit teacher? Who gets the demerit teacher? Who gets plain teacher? The "merit" teacher will be the one with students who come from families where newspapers and magazines are present and where parents place a high value on education and understand the need to motivate their sons and daughters. Why is there no shortage of math and science teachers in districts where all teachers are paid more?
Merit pay and increased pay for selected subject areas are both bad ideas. Why are the candiates not asked to address these matters?