There are a few things that have been gnawing at me of late. I have been wanting to put it to music, but deemed it better to blog my thoughts. Of course this will be in my own special, convoluted, logical manner.
Logic. There is the keyword. And not just any logic. All what is happening with this reform, or rather, deform is quite illogical.
The RtTT sell out by our esteemed UFT leader Mike is quite illogical. Basically he is holding all the cards as far as I see it. He is at the table with Klein, Bloomberg, Duncan, Obama, and Tilson. He has a flush. The others have nothing. The others aren't folding, the keep throwing chips into the pot. But who is sweating? It's Mike. When it comes time to make his last best, he folds. Throws the cards down. This is what he has done with the new evaluation system and signing off on the RtTT application. Why? There was no pressure for him to sign. There was no pressure for him to cooperate. Sheldon Silver would have done his bidding for him. Why fold when you have the best hand?
The other thing gnawing at me is the mantra from Klein that education is run like a business. OK, fine. Willing to give the benefit of the doubt. But there is a but. Businesses have competitors. This we learn in Business 101. What is not taught in Business 101 is that a business does not help out its competition. That's what the charters are. Charters compete against the DOE. This is like the Krusty Krab competing against he Chum Bucket. Plankton wants Mr Krabs secret recipe for the Krabby Patty. Does Mr Krabs give it to him? Of course not. Does Plankton covet the recipe and try to get it? Of course, this is the part of doing business. But you will never see Mr Krabs giving part of his restaurant to Plankton. You will never see Mr Krabs fire Spongebob to help out Plankton. So why does Klein help out the competition? Where is the logic in all of this?
As Mr Spock once said, "In an insane DOE, the sane teacher must appear to be insane." I think it is time for the next chancellor to be from Vulcan. Perhaps Sarek?
