As I said, it’s a bit more pensive and, say, settled than some of this other stuff, so I hope it gets you thinking. It comes from my own thoughts about my own teaching this summer and those prior.
A new @huffingtonpost from me about #teaching with a different tone than all this #edreform stuff
July 6, 2012 By 2 Comments
I do know there are numerous constitution faculties out there that are as good as our greatest public schools, but in an period when charters are being used to destroy public education, I am unhappy to read that you are working in a charter school. And no; charters are usually not public schools. They do get tax dollars but an excessive amount of of that money goes into corporate profits.
I realize that my working at a charter school makes certain public school sympathizers, like myself, uncomfortable. I tried to work in a public school, but their certification policies were too restrictive, which is fine. But they did not consider earning a PhD as maintaining my teaching credentials, so they expired. So, that would mean that I needed to take the Praxis tests all over again, something that I refused to do. I reached out to some charter schools and one agreed to have me. As a teacher educator, this experience is invaluable to return to the classroom. But you know what, I like the kids. They’re still kids and they still need an education. It’s easy to let this battle distract us from the actual students caught in the middle. But that’s where my head is at when I’m in that setting: the kids.