My sole disappointment with President Obama

A Facebook friend posted an article about the job growth in the coal industry despite the alleged war on coal that was taking place.  I re-posted it and of course it met some opposition from a coal company employee.  I respect his position because he works in the coal industry.  Even if I don't agree with the coal company owner's tactics, i do respect the man in the trenches everyday.  In my response I realized that in the same span of time that the article was referring, thousands of education jobs have been taken and the nature of schooling is being rewritten as we speak.  Now we are in my trenches.

I agree with Diane Ravitch in her book "Reign of Error" that the election of Barack Obama was a disappointment for education.  Don't get me wrong, I am an Obama supporter.  I voted for him twice.  I believe his values guide his leadership and my values closely match up to his. However, the appointment of Arne Duncan led to a flurry of education policies that encourage too much testing and expanding charter schools, both of which lead to the privatization of our schools.  

Schools cannot become big business like everything else in our lives.  Schools seem to the the last people centered organizations we have and allowing companies to take over in the name of so-called accountability, will crumble our democracy.  Dr. King on e said that a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  We need to act to protect the last sacred piece of our democracy, schools.  How you ask, in the voting booth.

I could care less which side of the isle you lean on.  Don't be fooled by election politics.  Demand that real issues are addressed.  Here are some issues that effect education and don't be fooled by the talking heads. 

1.  The Common Core is not a political issue.  It became a political issue when the Tea Party was running out of ideas.  The standards are not all bad for Illinois. They are much better written that the old ones and we do need a universal set of standards if the Feds will continue to run with No Child Left Behind. 

2.  School funding.  Schools cannot adequately be measured unless they are funded equally.  No child in Illinois is better than the other but the current funding formula allows that type of thinking. School funding reform must take place to make sure the kids in poorer districts have the same shot as everyone else.  

3.  Poverty is a universally concerning issue but it impacts a child's education more than most people realize.  If you candidate is not working to grow the middle class and reduce poverty stricken families in this state or our county, they should not be your candidate.  

Partisan politics has ruined many aspects of our nation, but to play games with schools and kids is a whole other level of unforgivable. Demand more of our leaders.  I still support president Obama even if I completely disagree with his education policy. I believe he can guide us to a bigger middle class and that good old fashioned prosperity that our grandparents used to tell us about. If I have to try and create mindless robots that know how to test well, at least they will be well fed and provided for.