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I am a former middle and high school science teacher pursuing a doctorate in Science Ed. at George Mason University, with a concentration in cognitive science and the evolution of cognition and learning. Postings on this blog represent my own views, not those of my employer or school. All writing displayed on this page is original work unless otherwise noted, and thus copyrighted.

16 February 2010

Sayonara, Del Burns

Superintendent Del Burns, of WCPSS, has resigned, stating that he cannot in good conscience work for the new school board. Whilst I am not a fan of Dr. Burns, I do feel badly for the citizens that did not elect the new majority of right-wing, anti-education bigots to the school board; everyone's children are going to suffer the consequences of a knee-jerk election.
Dr. Burns is largely, although not solely, responsible for the well-intentioned but poorly considered attempts at school reform centred around the PLT/PLC system of Rick DuFour. Like many education reforms before it, it was adopted long before the verdict was in on the efficacy of the approach, and based on the data available at All Things PLC, namely anecdotes and the most ad hoc of regression trends, the verdict is that DuFour has concocted a lovely scheme to make money that does little for learning. In that regard, I'm not sorry to see the man leave.
On the other hand, he is/was a voice of reason on the topic of diversity, choosing to continue WCPSS policy of shipping students a fair way from their homes to balance schools ethnically and economically. This, while not something that has an effect on student academic performance as evidenced in Greensboro and Charlotte, does prevent the creation of low-income sewers of schools that can't attract quality teachers (read: nearly every inner-city school you can imagine) and promote an understanding of the rest of the world in all types of students. Neighbourhood schools, especially if you read the comments on the above and every other N&O article on education, are code for "I don't want my kid goin' to school with no darkies." It's unfortunate that de facto segregation was the most attractive option to voters this past fall, since those of us who didn't think it was that great an idea didn't storm the polls like those who did.
From the comments on the site
Burns has been just like all the other life long "educators", out of touch with the needs of the kids, parents, and communities in Wake Co.

Really?! Why do ignorant fucktards feel that because they happened to go through school, they know more than people whose profession and life's work are in education? This is perhaps the most frustrating thing about working in education.
More "Joe the Plumber" right-wing, blue collar bullshit
One of the things I've been noticing lately is that some people seem to feel that college degrees trump intelligence, experience and integrity.
That's right buddy, your personal experiences as a car salesman or construction worker trump the combined learning of academia and the actual classroom experience of former teachers. Well done.
Wake County, you're going to end up getting what you asked for... unfortunately it isn't what your children deserve. Good-bye, Del Burns, and hello to the South before Brown v. Board. Luckily, I won't be sticking around to welcome in the return to a bygone era of fascist family values with you. Perhaps you can pray about what to do when most of your qualified staff follows suit over the next few years. After all, you've done nothing so far, why not continue?

3 comments:

  1. Look, I share your frustration but there's a dimension you're not looking at here with what you're dealing with.

    In case it's escaped your notice, our country has some serious issues with classism. And...no offense....but comments like some of those in your post are actually making matters worse because they reaffirm that "us" versus "them" mentality that foments ripe breeding grounds for anti-intellectualism.

    Coming from the "Other America", the underclass, and having 11 years more of life experience (and a different life experience at that — a poor woman, not middle class white male), I know what I'm talking about here.

    I remember when the Gramm-Rudman Bill basically placed college education out of the reach of poor women and minorities. But being a privileged white guy and all, you probably didn't have the same insurmountable obstacles to deal with to get your college degree that I did in order to get mine. Especially as a poor woman who was a non-traditional aged student in an academic environment that was unwelcoming towards anyone NOT a middle class traditional-aged college student with family support and resources that are not equally available to everyone.

    What needs to be done here is to gain some cross-class understanding. You're dealing with people who have basically been sold out and discarded in our Serengeti economy and told repeatedly how worthless and unimportant they are by evryone else just because they couldn't, for whatever reason, get the college educations that you and I DID get.

    The "Joe the Plumber" types are reacting out of being on the defense. They've been put on the defense for so long that they think anyone remotely more educated than they are is a "limousine liberal." It is out of very real desperation and fear that they cling to their guns and Bibles and beliefs.

    Now, unfortunately their view of those with educations is not totally unfounded. And unfortunately, the political party of Birthers, Baggers and Blowhards has mastered a way to capitalize on that for their own gain.

    For too long, middle and upper class America has embraced the notion of "I've got mine, fuck you." This sentiment was not restricted to the John McCains or the Sarah "I See Russia From My Backyard" Palins of the nation.

    What needs to be done, of course, is a major ACLU lawsuit against the assholian school district for failing to stand behind Ms. Hussain, the science teacher whose class was interrupted and whose job is in jeopardy. The ACLU needs to be vigorously fighting to preserve that wall of "separation of church and state."

    Another thing that needs to be done is some bridging of the class divide between the parents (who feel, as working class poor people, that they have been discarded and looked down on by all the "educated elitist" liberals)and those like yourself and Ms. Hussain who are middle class and educated.

    And the only way such bridges of understanding can be established is to understand the dynamics of the past 30 years of class warfare that has been going on in this country which has led us to this lamentable situation we are in now.

    It is extremely difficult to reach and educate children whose parents see you as "the enemy", so it is important to try and win at least SOME of the parents over rather than insult all of them for being products of a society that has helped shaped them and influenced their warped ideologies.

    I would suggest to you that you buy and read the following two books available on Amazon.com:

    1)"Classism For Dimwits"

    2)"Divine Right: The Truth is a Lie"

    Both are written by a feminist atheist author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You've suggested I purchase two of your books... interesting.
    "insurmountable obstacles to deal with to get your college degree that I did in order to get mine"
    Same obstacles, no, possibly not. Since you did earn your degree, you might want to extend that education by looking up the word 'insurmountable', however. I don't doubt that they were serious, particularly if you had to work to support children at the same time.
    "Another thing that needs to be done is some bridging of the class divide between the parents (who feel, as working class poor people, that they have been discarded and looked down on by all the "educated elitist" liberals)and those like yourself and Ms. Hussain who are middle class and educated."
    These people aren't uneducated, or poor, for that matter... they see 'us' as the enemy because we don't cling to what they consider essential human values. Some of the very parents who have issues with busing in urban school districts are the same ones who foment the class divide.
    Secondly, let's not make assumptions about who is and isn't middle class. Thanks.

    "Especially as a poor woman who was a non-traditional aged student in an academic environment that was unwelcoming towards anyone NOT a middle class traditional-aged college student with family support and resources that are not equally available to everyone."
    Do you have anything on which to base this that doesn't stem from your "11 years more life experience"? Personal experience/anecdote makes for a poor argument.
    "...no offense....but comments like some of those in your post are actually making matters worse because they reaffirm that "us" versus "them" mentality that foments ripe breeding grounds for anti-intellectualism."

    Your concern is noted, and duly rejected. If I were writing this in an effort to convert/educate those people, it would be a valid argument. I'm not. More importantly, even if I were, what have you seen to suggest that another method is going to make a dent in their ideology? Your version of the argument elicits the same non-thinking response through a different channel. Rather than directly rejecting out of anger, it is dismissed as 'promoting the liberal agenda'.
    My issue with critical theory and a large chunk of feminism is not that it lacks a laudable goal, but rather that it is just as polarising as it being forthright, and chooses to make use of post-modern word salad rather than having a coherent argument, in the case of critical theory because empirical methods are viewed as those of the enemy.

    "It is extremely difficult to reach and educate children whose parents see you as 'the enemy',"
    Wow... you really should have a look inside my classroom some time, and then discuss who is reaching whom.
    We're not likely to agree on this one, but I do thank you for a reasonable response.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, as a matter of fact I do have more than just my own life experience — I happen to be an obsessive-compulsive when it comes to research. And since you asked....Here are my top seven sources out of ninety-two total sources.

    National Education Association, Teachers Rights Division, Inquiry Report, Kanawha COunty, West Virginia: "Virginia: A Textbook Study in Cultural Conflict" (Washington, DC: NEA, 1975), 8-14, 16-36.

    "The Foundations Of Class and Classism", Working Paper by Chuck Barone, PhD, Dept of Economics, Dickenson College, Carlisle, PA.

    "The Status Seekers", Vance Packard, 1959.

    "Keeping Them Out of the Hands of Satan: Evangelical Schooling in America", Susan Rose, 1988. New York: Routledge.

    "The War Against the Poor", Herbert Gans, 1995.

    "See Poverty, Be The Difference" by Dr. Donna Beegle, 2001.

    "Class Acts: Middle-Class Responses to the Poor", Heather Bullock, 1995. The Social Psychology of Interpersonal Discrimination. Bernice Lott and Diane Maluso (eds). pp. 118-159. NY: Guilford Press.


    Happy Reading :)

    Jacqueline S. Homan

    ReplyDelete