Re: Organization of Teachers for Children

[Laura Van <abrilmackenzie@HOTMAIL.COM>]

My apologies to Michael & the teachers for not being clear.  I wrote the
piece supporting a professional organizations for teachers for children as a
parent.  I am not a teacher, nor an educator, and I am  an extrememly active
parent.  I believe there is a strong place for parents and teachers to work
together.  I also think there may be a place for teachers to advocate for
education as a professional group, in ways the unions aren't.  Maybe Michael
is right and parents should be part of that group.  My instincts say no,
that is a different group.  But in any case, it wasn't a teacher who said
it, it was a parent, so we can have a hearty debate, but it wasn't the
teachers shooting themselves in the foot.  Again, my apologies.


> From: Michael Hootstein <hoot1@MINDSPRING.COM>
> Reply-To: Assessment Reform Network Mailing List <ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU>
> To: ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Organization of Teachers for Children
> Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 07:44:26 -0000
>
> As I read your email, I am saddened by the discussion that excludes us.
> Only one of you has privately responded to my wife's and my email to ARN.
> We are not educational professionals.  We are parents who have spent years
> volunteering in the schools and who are witness to the devaluation of
> students and teachers first hand.  In meetings with state legislators and a
> United States Senator, we advocate with determined vigor for children and
> teachers.  If you took the time to read our first posting you would have
> read about inclusion and exclusion.  Should you as educational
> professionals
> continue to devalue our passion, our commitment and our expertise as
> parents, you too will reap what you sow.  Frankly, I expected this group to
> be higher minded.  Stop shooting yourselves in the foot (in the head?) Stop
> trying to drive wedges between parents who responsibly choose to homeschool
> their children and fools like ourselves who believe public schools are the
> very heart of our democracy and must be supported at all costs.  This is
> not
> only about your jobs.  This is about America's survival.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
> to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.