From Michael_Maser@wonder.wimsey.com Sat Feb 17 21:06:32 1996 Xref: elastic can.general:35130 Path: elastic!exorcist!lethe!geac!herboid!whome!infoshare!istar.net!news1.vancouver.istar.net!news.vancouver.istar.net!van-bc!wonder!Michael_Maser From: Michael_Maser@wonder.wimsey.com (Michael Maser) Reply-To: Michael_Maser@wonder.wimsey.com Newsgroups: can.general Distribution: world Subject: Beware BC Teacher's media blitz Date: 15 Feb 1996 23:45:20 GMT Message-ID: <1296289789.15729747@wonder.wimsey.com> Organization: Wondertree Education Society Lines: 101 Beware upcoming media blitzkreig by BC Teachers by Michael Maser (michael_maser@wondertree.wimsey.com) Wondertree Education Society On February 22, the B.C. Teacher's Federation will begin a $1.65 million media campaign to shore up support for the universe of education as they perceive it. They will also attempt to discourage public support for educational choices beyond the status quo, for example charter schools. The facts, figures and stories they will perpetuate bear scrutiny for some remarkable biases and conflicts of interest. First, this group presents itself as a champion of 'public' education in the best interests of 'democracy'. Yet, it's hard to perceive anything democratic about an organization that wields its political clout and mobilizes to stifle choices beyond their interests. Given that Glen Clark's campaign manager Ken Novakowski is a communications director with the BCTF and a former president, the strategic implications of this campaign become more apparent. It's also worth pondering what notion of 'public' this organization is referring to. In the last eight years, three public research documents - the Sullivan Commission on Education, the 1993 In-School Survey of 2,200 students, and The Unheard Voice, reflecting more student opinion - reported dissatisfaction with the status quo in education, and two recommended significant overhaul of the system. Have these changes been forthcoming? Not when the changes would impinge on the status quo that maintains the BCTF. Barry Sullivan recommended dismantling grade 11 and 12, and tendering responsibility to other providers, an idea that hasn't been heard in staff rooms since the report's release in 1988. That would still seem to be a good idea, considering 88% of grade 12 students polled in 1993 did not feel what they were learning in school was useful. Then there's the notion of accountability. Senior students brought together in a 1993 forum voiced wide support for teacher accountability, performance review and more learning choices beyond the standard education model that has prevailed since factory schooling was legislated into existence last century. The BCTF would have us believe that they are foremost accountable to our young people, but an examination of their bylaws reveals there is no provision for accountability to fulfill the requests of its clients - young people and their families - which is why this union falls short of any real education accountability. This is in no way intended to demean teaching, or teachers. Many conduct themselves as though they are accountable to their clients, though they are under no obligation to do so. Many North American teachers, it seems, also support introducing more educational options beyond the present vested interest models, including charter schools, as a way to revitalize education. The list of organizations supporting charter schools now includes the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teaching union on the planet. The BCTF doesn't know how many teachers in B.C. support educational options like charter schools because it hasn't polled them. Yet the executive feels righteous enough to condemn the charter school movement as a plague on British Columbians. This despite the fact charter schools have now been legislated in 20 states, Alberta, and other countries, like New Zealand. Interestingly, the BCTF has a policy on the books "that innovative schools and practices should be encouraged in order to develop better learning conditions," but the executive has evidently chosen to ignore this policy to squelch a perceived territorial threat. At a charter school conference held last November in Richmond, which the BCTF executive and Education Minister Art Charbonneau boycotted, speakers related success stories that defied the myths the BCTF is perpetuating. Options like charter schools also offer hope that support could be forthcoming for educational models that innovate beyond the factory school model, ever reliant on the text book and the teacher. This would help serve a greater range of student learning needs and interests and offer more diverse preparation for a rapidly changing world. With respect to this last point, New Zealand Minister of Education Dr. Lockwood Smith was clear in a keynote speech at last year's charter school conference. "The greatest challenge before education today is the need to respond quickly and appropriately to change," he said. "A single, homogeneous, centrally controlled school system is simply not able to respond rapidly enough to change. Democracy - real democracy - should prevail on this vital issue before British Columbians. As a tax-paying citizen, a parent, and educational innovator, I believe educational choices beyond the vested interest limitations deserve to be a major issue in the forthcoming provincial election. And before I vote in favour of increased educational choices, I'll be turning in my associate membership in the BCTF. -- end --