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1) Who Wants Reality from Teacher Movies? Over
the past few weeks, I’ve been fascinated by the amount of ink spilled over a
completely inconsequential slice of American cheese called
Freedom Writers. It’s the “truth-based” story of Long Beach,
California, high school teacher Erin Gruwell, who takes a ragtag bunch of
misfits, carves them into a cohesive, intelligent group, and then leads them
on a commando mission to decapitate the Nazi high command.
Oh wait, that’s The Dirty Dozen.
Anyway, all you need to know about the film itself is
that it was written by
Richard
LaGravenese, whose previous credits include
The Fisher King,
The Bridges of Madison County,
The Mirror Has Two Faces, and
The Horse Whisperer. In other words, this ain’t Citizen Kane.
But one of the
enduring mysteries of the news business is why certain stories have legs,
while others don’t. The first reaction appears to have come from the Los
Angeles Times, in a story headlined, “Did
‘Writers’ get it wrong?” Reporter Gina Piccalo highlighted the
controversies over the depiction of Long Beach schools, the racial and
ethnic makeup of the student body, and the efforts of Gruwell herself.
Gruwell
defends the movie and is joined by a number of people involved, including
Carl Cohn, who at the time was the Long Beach superintendent and is
depicted in the film. The complaints about the film’s accuracy prompted a
reply editorial in the
Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Then came a
story from the lifestyle columnist in the
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, who worked with Gruwell in Long Beach
during the time period of the movie, and who supported and praised her work.
But, he wrote, there were plenty of people like Gruwell at the time.
The overkill
descended into farce with a spoof “interview with Long Beach” in
OC Weekly:
“I gotta
represent the block, knowwhatI’msaying? Strong Beach, C-A, stand up!
“Do you
really talk like that?
“Of course not. But would you be talking to me if I
spoke like Tucker Carlson?”
Then followed the usual phenomenon of the press
covering the press coverage. The
San Diego Union-Tribune asked, “can’t some thoughtful filmmaker take
a camera into not just one school, but several; into not just inner-city
schools but those in the ’burbs?”
Finally we came full circle with an op-ed by Bronx high
school teacher Tom Moore in the
New York Times. Moore suggests the movie doesn’t show the real
environment in inner-city schools, at least according to his experience,
where “the pigeons competed with the mice and cockroaches for the students’
attention.” Moore’s more authentic classroom, of course, is the subject of
the book he’s writing.
This is silly. The reason there are no realistic movies
about schools and teachers is because there is no way anyone would spend $12
to watch one. This is not a reflection on teachers. We don’t want to see a
movie about cops filing paperwork. We don’t want to see Woodward and
Bernstein covering the dentists’ convention. We don’t want to see Jack Bauer
confiscate hair gel from an old lady.
Freedom Writers the movie is a condensed, edited
version of Freedom Writers the book, which is a condensed, edited
version of Ms. Gruwell’s manuscript, which is a condensed, edited version of
her memories, which are a condensed, edited version of the reality in her
classroom.
As for all the hubbub about the movie, take the advice
of those prolific movie-watchers, the cast of
Mystery Science Theater 3000: “Repeat to yourself, ‘It’s just a show, I
should really just relax.’”
2) Representation Election Likely in Puerto Rico.
Barring an unusual government action, it appears we will witness a singular
event in K-12 education labor history: a representation election for 42,000
employees in which neither union is (currently) affiliated with NEA or AFT.
The
Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (AMPR) is the challenging
organization. Once affiliated with NEA, AMPR dissolved its ties with the
national union after losing the island’s initial representation election in
1999.
The
Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR) disaffiliated from AFT in
2004, then fought off an AFT attempt to establish a national
administratorship over it (keyword search “Puerto Rico” in the
EIA Archives for the long and bloody history).
The island’s labor relations board has yet to call an
election, but may do so with only 14 days’ notice. Both sides are operating
under the assumption that an election will be held during the first week of
February.
The campaign
will go ugly early. If FMPR retains exclusive representation, it will
probably put an end to challenges to its primacy for the foreseeable future.
If AMPR wins, it is equally likely that it will be wooed for affiliation by
NEA and/or AFT – perhaps both together – and other stateside public employee
unions that could certainly use the boost 42,000 new members would bring.
3) Uh-Oh-Oh, Der Kommissar’s In Town. The
Associated Press reported today that “a coalition of labor, trial
lawyers and liberal groups is launching lobbying and campaign organizations
this week to keep Democratic lawmakers from straying on populist issues.”
Discovering that the politicians you helped elect will
often fail to toe the line is not an idle worry of the unions, nor is it
unique to one party or the other. But Congress isn’t where the problem lies,
and the coalition has to overcome its own internal divisions in order to
effectively enforce political orthodoxy.
Case in point: In West Virginia, Gov. Joe Manchin
appears ready to join a very long list of Democratic governors who have
discovered fiscal restraint after being elected with the help of traditional
liberal constituencies. When Manchin sought the office in 2003, he received
critical support during the Democratic primaries from the West Virginia
Education Association, while AFT West Virginia was supporting his opponent.
This year, WVEA is lobbying hard for a statewide six
percent teacher pay hike. Gov. Manchin has proposed a 2.5 percent raise.
That’s hardly a cataclysmic difference, but it’s always
interesting to see how the rhetoric escalates in such disputes. Gov. Manchin
was interviewed by the editorial board of the
Charleston Daily Mail and said, “They don’t tell you about the
incremental pay they get every year. Every public employee with more than
three years gets an increase every year. That’s guaranteed and better than
what you in the private sector get.”
Republicans, of course, have the opposite problem.
Their candidates discover profligate spending after being elected.
Threatening incumbents with primary challenges may cause them serious
headaches (ref. Joe Lieberman), but such tactics are risky (ref. Joe
Lieberman).
4) Just When I Thought That I Was Out, They Pull Me
Back In. Nashville teacher Kristy Carr decided she no longer wished to
be a member of the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association (MNEA). She
sent official notice of her resignation to MNEA and the school district,
both received on or about October 25, 2006.
But on November 8, Carr received a letter signed by
MNEA President Jamye Merritt, informing her that she could not resign until
the period April 1-May 31, 2007, because that is the window established in
the MNEA bylaws and, Merritt wrote, “As President of the Association, it is
my responsibility to uphold the Bylaws.”
Carr sued, and considering the mammoth amount of legal precedent, is
likely to prevail.
What is the union’s position? That Carr violated the
bylaws? What is the punishment for that? Expulsion.
5) Last Week’s Intercepts.
EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from January 16-22:
* No
Comparison. Comparing one school system to another is wrong. Except when
it’s right.
* “Nice
Revenue Generators for the District.” Confirmation of what we suspected
all along.
* Fireworks
Over Ohio School Funding Proposal.
Even the mayors couldn’t stomach this one.
6)
Quote of the Week.
“[The proposed
Ohio school funding amendment] would create a court-enforceable mandate to
justify the rest of the amendment, which includes a half-page of definitions
and three pages of provisions that can be boiled down to this: The state
school board is to determine how much money the schools need each year, and
the Legislature has to provide it. Period. It’s essentially a blank check.
And that’s really what these people have been after all along.” – from the
editorial board of
The Courier of Findlay, Ohio. (January 18) |
