Not on the Same Page Here

Much has been made this year of the California Budget Cuts. I have written about it here and in several editions of the Friday Snippets and its been a regular feature in local California newspapers. I think there is real outrage on the part of people with an interest in education ... and rightfully so.

But, those outraged people are not really all that much on the same page when it comes to expressing their dislike of this shortchanging of schools. For instance, LA Unified Teachers want to protest an hour next week over the budget cuts to get some public attention for their position. But, LA Unified, a school district who is just as outraged over the budget cuts, is now seeking an injunction to stop the protest.

And, there is the problem. We are not on the same page when it comes to presenting a public face of education to the general public. This teacher protest could have been a good way (I am not commenting on the merits of it) to gain public attention, but now the infighting is overshadowing the message which everyone agrees on. On top of that you have teachers protesting independently across the state, uncoordinated parental protests, students walking out of class (and being discouraged by the DOE), k-12 students & parents protesting, higher ed. students protesting on campuses, and on and on.

Lots of protesting, but not a lot of pressure on politicians because these stories are all local stories. Certainly, the local protests help make education's case, but what would happen if education were ever to present a united front to the public?