For many years now, politicians like Andrew Cuomo have been working hard to demonize the teaching profession on behalf of their big money donors like charter school operators, testing companies, hedge fund managers, and everyone else who stands to make a few bucks off the ruin of public schools and the destruction of public unions.
Some new data gives us a breath of hope that their efforts are failing. A recent Siena poll shows that only 10% of New Yorkers blame teachers for students not being college and career ready. Much higher on the list are things like lack of parental involvement, under-funding, and poverty.
The downside of this is that it perpetuates the exaggerated claims that the majority of our students aren’t ready for college or the workforce. The plus side, is that we must be doing something right in our schools because our publicly-educated citizens are informed enough to see through the B.S.
The most important aspect of this, though, is that it’s more ammunition for us to give legislators to convince them to oppose the Governor’s reforms.
Please read more about the poll on the always excellent Perdido Street Blog (and click the link there to see the actual results).
Then, CONTACT YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND STATE SENATOR and remind them that this poll is evidence that of where the people stand – with their teaches and against Governor Cuomo.
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