Parents Speak Out against "Billionaires Boys Club"

Recently, I was asked to contribute to a NYTimes story (havent seen anything in 'print' yet); it was ostensibly about PTA's and school funding here in the city...and I served well, providing the journalist with a number of excellent other 'sources' .. surprisingly not such an easy task, since people are just AFRAID or UNWILLING (sometimes one, sometimes both) to discuss. To parents who mention that they worry their children will be in some way vilified or treated badly because we (parents) talk to the press, I say this: it would be some very (VERY) unwise principal to take any action against any of our students. In fact, opening our mouths, discussing how funding and 'privatizing' of our public schools has affected school positions, arts programs and a myriad of other resources in the schools ... discussing ALOUD, in blogs, at forums,... all that may prove the ONLY way to make things better. In this, the climate of the PRESUMPTION that teachers are mostly a waste of money, in the climate where Bloomberg and the Billionaire's Boys Club (Diane Ravitch, "Death & Life of the Great American School System) have managed to all but convince unsuspecting citizens that the TESTING MADNESS is the best way to use our classroom time.. in this economically squeezed period of time, our students NEED our voices. Principals in NYC Public Schools can essentially do WHATEVER they want, ratings for teachers are (presumably) about 'TEACHING' but they are actually ONLY about TESTING. And the TESTS, well those are designed to the 10's of MILLIONS of dollars spread by the Mayor (Bloomberg) and his DOE/Educrats to friends of those (men). And the idiocy of the questions our littlest learners are subjected to? Well, who will stop the madness if it's NOT the moms, the parents, the guardians, the public citizens of the 99% who actually want our kids to keep LEARNING, (NOT TESTING)... ? just thoughts for the day. I entreat each of us to speak out, and to speak up. Rachel