Hanna Hurley is the queen of education on Twitter! She is one of the most outspoken opponents against corporate education reform, common core, and standardized tests. I also hold her in high regard because she is a special education advocate and one of the best out there!
For those who may not know, former CNN host Campell Brown has emerged as the head of a lawsuit against teacher tenure in NY state. A similar suit was filed in CA known as the Vergara case, and the suit was won. What many fail to understand is that tenure does not mean a teacher can stay forever at a school. It allows teachers due process if something happens that can go against them.
On Monday, one of The View cohosts, Whoopi Goldberg, came out with a remark about teacher tenure, “You teachers in your unions, you need to say, ‘these bad teachers are making us look bad. We don’t want it!”…And it has nothing to do with being a liberal or a Democrat. It has to do with being an American.”
Many teachers took issue with Whoopi’s remarks, and Twitter quickly rose up with teachers blasting Whoopi all over the Twitterverse. I’ve been following Hanna Hurley for a while now, and I always like what she has to say. With her permission, I’ve copied her tweets about what life would be like without teacher tenure.
#WithoutTenure Tchrs will think twice abt risking their lives 2 protect America’s kids fr shootings,tornado,flood,killing sprees,schl fights
#WithoutTenure tchrs will be fired 4 protecting Severely Intellectually Disabled kids,w/ IQs below 35, from USBOE
WithoutTenure Teacher must harm SID/PID stds w/ IQs 70-55, 35-55, 20-35, <20 w/ USDoE forced #ToxicTests? DFACS!
#WithoutTenure America: Be careful what u wish 4. Consequences of silencing professional, ethical, dedicated, skilled & experienced tchrs.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 tchng abt Black Panthers&Stokely Carmichael in US History. Bullied by AA principal bc "I had no right"
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired many times 4 protecting parental and student due process in SpEd. Admins pressure 2 violate IDEA & FAPE.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 refusing to paddle or witness paddling of students, by admins.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 monitoring admins who 'withdrew' SpEd & ELL HS kids prior 2 testing under NCLB.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired by a black principal bc he accused me at 1st mtg of "BEING Sooo WHITE"&I wldn't know how 2 tch AfAm kids.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 exposing the practice of placing 50+students into SpEd w/o any testing,eligibility,IEP,or due process.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 confronting admins who wld send kids home w/counting OSS.Data counted against schl discipline records.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 wearing pants instead of skirts, per dress code, while having 2 restrain SED institutionalized kids.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 supporting a mass HS std walkout- in protest of firing a great tchr labeled as an "Angry Black Male.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 false & fabricated accusations of 'hitting' a HS student.Stds testified & took me a yr 2 clear my name.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 testifying on behalf of a teacher wrongly accused & fired 4 being a bad tchr & an"Angry Black Male".
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired for reporting testing violations & school-wide cheating.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 reporting classes that were left unattended, w/o a supervising adult, for long periods of time.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 confronting admins for not recording physical attacks on tchrs & kids to avoid: Dangerous School lable.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired when I attacked by a HS std,fell 2 the floor & principal wld not allow me 2 press charges. I called 911!
#WithoutTenure I would hv been fired for exposing a principal who stuck EBD/SpEd kids in a hidden room,hired a friend 2 tch & hid them all.
#WithoutTenure I would hv been fired 4 reporting & demanding actions to stop child abuse by a well connected employee in a school.
#WithoutTenure I would hv been fired 4 exposing that SID SpEd kids were in rooms w/o heat in the winter & admin insisted on secrecy.
#WithoutTenure I wld hv been fired 4 reporting a principal 4 using Title1$$ for his personal use & I testified in court.He was fired!
It sounds to me like life without Hanna Hurley would be very different at some schools, and not for the better. She obviously strikes hard when she sees injustice. We need more people like Hanna, and there are many. Public school teachers deserve more than what President Obama, Arne Duncan and several state governors have thrust upon them. There are over 50,000 members of the Badass Teachers Association. Common Core, Smarter Balanced Assessments and PARCC testing are getting slammed every single day by Democrats and Republicans alike.
To all teachers: Don't take this crap. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, don't just sit there and take it. Fight it. Make your voice heard. Is this really the kind of education you want to teach? I know most of you hate it. Like a thief in the night, your dreams of when you first wanted to become a teacher are being replaced. It's not by your districts. Your states and federal government have done this. It is corporate raiding at it's best, and many of you are letting it happen right before your very eyes. Don't think they are done after this. Prepare yourself for more changes. Don't believe the lies being told. Everything will change in the next school year. Unless you make your voice heard. You have to do this now, before all your rights are stripped away.
For those of you thinking this is a left-wing radical liberal union loving group, you are dead wrong. These are teachers who want the best for students while also being able to hold their heads up high and want to feel pride in teaching. American teachers are vastly underpaid. Why should we pay celebrities and athletes all of that money when teachers are the ones educating our youth? But this isn't what you hear from them. It's about what's being done to our schools in America.
Teachers like Hanna Hurley have true grit and aren't afraid to speak the truth. My fondest wish is to never hear from them again. For this to happen, common core would have to go away, standardized testing would need to disappear forever, special education students would need to be accommodated to the fullest extent of the law, and race and poverty issues would be dealt with in America. Until then, I support our national heroes. I hope all of you willing to stick your neck out like this are regarded as the saviors of education. Until then, keep tweeting. I know I'll be reading them all.
Hanna's quote on Twitter says it all: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away."
The Season Of Myths 