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?

Welcome to Emerson Advocates

Emerson Advocates hopes to organize parents, future parents, teachers, administrators and community members committed to quality education at Ralph Waldo Emerson Middle School in Los Angeles, California. Despite ongoing attacks on our public schools we believe we can organize school staff, families and prospective families to meet the diverse needs of our school community.

Our goal is to utilize this blog to engage in thoughtful conversations about public education/education policy and consider opportunities for action.  We hope these interactions will allow stakeholders to be accurately informed, express concerns, and organize to strengthen the Emerson learning community and public education at the district, state and federal levels.

Please contact Michele Levin mlevin@lausd.net or Noriko Nakada nnakada@lausd.net if you want more information or if you are interested in guest blogging for Emerson Advocates!