By Gretchen Dandrea Blynt

As many mourned Pete Seeger this past week, I found myself in my classroom with the tune "Little Boxes" running through my head. On Friday, during a staff development day, I realized why. The current educational reforms have opened the doors wide for salesmen peddling a ticky tacky curriculum.

They send implementers (who are wholly different from the instructors they stand before) with their colorful websites touting company names that nearly always include a pairing of "learning," "teach," or some trendily shortened version of "education" with something dynamically adventurous like "explore," "journey," "compass" or "renaissance."

Throughout the lengthy trainings, teachers are directed by a voice in the back and a projection in the front to click, drag and highlight students into groups, standards into folders, and assessment parts into test outlines. It is assumed the students will later work on these canned tasks independently, and a report will be automatically sent to the teachers' emails: no contact or conversation required. We listen to catchphrases about these programs providing us simple pleasures like time in our day to sneak to our desks to get a few sips of water while also, on a grander scale, performing all the progress monitoring duties for teachers, allowing us to get back to inspiring students--the reason for teaching.

However, I'm having trouble keeping the magical elixir down. ... You can read the rest of the article, and listen to the Pete Seeger song, by clicking here. The story is both enlightening and sad.

Dear WGTA Members,

Are you working to help your union find ways for its members to join in reclaiming the promise of a more just society for all? Or do you have a child who is a senior in high school with plans to attend college? We can help! As part of the Robert G. Porter Scholars Program, the AFT offers $8,000 scholarships to four high-achieving high school seniors who are the dependents of AFT members. And 10 grants of $1,000 each are available to AFT members from all divisions who seek to implement ideas for their union about the role union members can play in collectively reclaiming the promise.

Applications are now available online.

Robert G. Porter was a dedicated union activist from the time he joined his first AFT local in East St. Louis, Ill., until his death in 1991. For nearly four decades, the late AFT secretary-treasurer gave his all to championing the rights of working people, promoting civil rights, and ensuring that the union was a vehicle for helping members achieve justice. Since its inception in 1993, the Robert G. Porter Scholars Program has awarded more than $500,000 to AFT members and their dependents to further their education and to help grow our union’s capacity to achieve our goals.

Your application is now available online.

This year’s winners will be announced by June 30 and will be recognized at the AFT convention, July 11-14, in Los Angeles. The deadline for submitting the 2014 application to the AFT is March 31.

We look forward to another exciting year for the Robert G. Porter Scholars Program.

In unity,
Lorretta Johnson

AFT Secretary-Treasurer

Click here for additional information. Please address your questions to porterscholars@aft.org. (Telephone requests for applications will not be accepted).

NEW ==> The January / February 2014 MemberShip