Call For NEA To Cut Ties With TeachStrong Coalition

Another new business item at the NEA Rep. Assembly in D.C. this week would call for NEA to quit the TeachStrong Coalition sponsored by the Center for American Progress.  Delaware Governor Markell is one of the biggest advocates for this farce of a coalition and helped to launch the initiative.  The Center for American Progress was also the same group that led the “Testing Bill of Rights for Education” which landed with a resounding thud.  This led to my creation of the “Parent Bill of Rights for Education” which pretty much led to a two-week banishment on Facebook for myself in April.  How dare parents voice their opinion!

The NEA has to realize they are cutting their own throats by aligning with these companies.  They need to fight this crap, not join it.  To read more on this NBI, please go here.  How much do you want to bet the TeachStrong ambassadors were carefully selected by these partnership organizations to further their own agendas, including the ultimate privatization of public schools?  Lily Eskelsen-Garcia, you are not leading your membership to glory.  You are leading them to the slaughter…  will the NEA members wake up and take back any shred of decency before it is gone forever?

What Is Jack Markell Up To Today? Teachers Beware!

Delaware Governor Jack Markell is speaking at an “all-star” panel today about the best paths to move the teaching profession forward.  Who is the latest education reform think tank Markell is speaking for?  None other than the Center for American Progress.  From their press release:

Washington, D.C. — In order to ensure that all students are taught by excellent teachers, leaders must reimagine the systems and structure of the teacher career continuum. Yet the United States has never made a serious commitment to modernizing, elevating, and professionalizing the teaching pathway. This Tuesday, November 10, will mark the kickoff of the TeachStrong campaign, a diverse and powerful coalition of 40 education organizations that have come together to call on the nation’s leaders to make modernizing and elevating the teaching profession the top education policy priority in 2016 and beyond.

The TeachStrong launch event will feature Gov. Terry Branstad (R-IA) and Gov. Jack Markell (D-DE), who will deliver keynote addresses on their efforts to elevate teaching in their states. An all-star panel of education leaders will discuss the path forward around this critical issue.

WHO:

Opening remarks:
Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy, Center for American Progress

Keynote remarks:
Gov. Terry Branstad (R-IA)
Gov. Jack Markell (D-DE)

Moderator:
Amanda Ripley, Author, New York Times bestseller The Smartest Kids in the World

Panelists:
Peggy Brookins, Interim President and CEO, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Bobby Miles, Multi Classroom Leader and Science Teacher, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; Member, North Carolina Association of Educators
Rep. George Miller, former U.S. Representative (D-CA); Senior Education Advisor, Cengage Learning
Mary Cathryn Ricker, Executive Vice President, American Federation of Teachers

WHAT:

TeachStrong Launch Event

WHERE:

The Mayflower Hotel
Palm Court Ballroom
1127 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C., 20036

WHEN:

Tuesday, November 10, 2015
10:00 a.m. ET – 12:00 p.m. ET

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Is it just me, or is Markell doing more education speeches for national organizations than he is in Delaware?  Is he posturing himself for life after 2016?  He is definitely up to something.  My greatest fear for education is Jack Markell as the next Secretary of Education under President Hilary Clinton.  Last summer he spoke at New America where he called the Smarter Balanced Assessment “the best test Delaware ever made”.

The other forty organizations involved in this Kool-Aid festival?  The usual suspects but also some other surprising organizations including the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.  Those are the two largest national unions in the country for teachers.  Why are they participating at this corporate education reform mess?  Bad move…teachers beware…