What is your reform "Superman"?

My favorite shirt-sighting at the LA Times protest. 

Emerson students got back to school this week and the nation is abuzz about public education.

On Tuesday, here in LA, several Emerson teachers joined UTLA at the LA Times to protest their education series which published teacher rankings based on student test scores.  In DC, many blame school chancellor Michelle Rhee for the election loss of Mayor Fenty and hope this result might change the tide for "reform" education policy.  And in Philadelphia, President Obama addressed students with a message about the importance of education in pursuing their dreams. 

But the buzz that is growing in our national media and about to swarm around us is the upcoming release of the movie Waiting for Superman.  This documentary from the director of An Inconvenient Truth is garnering lots of national attention for taking a pro-charter, anti-teacher stance on the education "reform" debate.  Ed. Secretary Arne Duncan even called it his, "Rosa Parks moment" and he's getting all kinds of grief for that.  Prepare to hear lots about this documentary on an NBC education panel and on Oprah. 

Doesn't look like many parent or teacher voices will be heard as this conversation about education reform goes national, but here at Emerson Advocates, we want to know what you think.

What reforms would you like to see at your public school to improve the quality of education for our students?

Summer News...

Over the summer our school, the city, and the federal government have been busy.  Emerson hosted three days of Camp Emerson welcoming incoming students and their families to get the year started.  The Los Angeles Times intensified conversations about teacher evaluations with their "value-added" series and the Department of Education moved forward with their Race to the Top.

We will likely revisit these topics for discussion, but let's take a look at this article from The Star Tribune in Minneapolis/St. Paul.  "Americans less happy with Obama's education agenda, but still love their local schools."

There seems to be a disconnect between the experiences teachers, students and families have at their local schools, and what the press and federal government want us to think about our public schools. Are all of our schools struggling or is it just those other schools?

Despite what the press and test scores say about the state of education what has been your experience?