Every single thing that I read here could apply to how the federal government and how local governments have been treating schools and their staff.
, pitting Sears company managers against each other in a kind of Lord of the Flies death match.
Could just as easily read
pitting school principals and teachers against each other in a kind of Lord of the Flies death match.
putting them through humiliating rituals, like annual conference calls in which unit managers were forced to bow and scrape for money and resources.
Could read
putting teachers through humiliating rituals, like annual reviews based on the Danielson framework after which principals were forced to bow and scrape for money and resources.
We've got
...became obsessed with technology, wasting resources on developing apps as Sears’ physical stores became dilapidated and filthy.
as
...became obsessed with technology, wasting resources on Smartboards and apps as physical school buildings and their interiors became dilapidated and filthy. (the school I worked at in the Bronx had a bedbug problem that they could not attend to due to budget and time frame issues, an almost continuosly broken heating and air conditioning system, floors that were literally only cleaned 3 times a year, an asbestos problem, etc)
Then
Instead of investing in workers and developing useful products, he sold off valuable real estate, shuttered stores,
could just as easily be
Instead of investing in teachers and developing useful curricula and methodology, Bloomberg (if NYC) sold off valuable real estate to charter schools, shuttered schools marked as "failing" to fire teachers and hire new, cheaper ones...
I could go on with this.
Sorry to hijack the article, but it just shocked me how every little aspect of this article directly reflected mine and my parents' experiences as public school educators under our city's "business model" of education and federal initiatives that essentially pit schools an districts against one another while neglecting the basics and stripping funding from the most neediest.
Even though it's about the retail world, this article really resonated with me and I'm sure with other people in service occupations. I work for a community college. A friend of mine works for a hospital. We were just yesterday discussing how our respective workplaces keep starting new programs and buying facilities while also cutting supply budgets and freezing staff hires. We need staff but we instead we get some technical fix, some elaborate computer program, that does nothing to lighten our load but does manage to create new problems and cost more money. We are angry, exhausted, and not giving a fuck anymore. If I stop caring about my job, you might fail out of school. If she stops caring about hers, you might die. Employees too tired to care anymore, brought to you by Ayn Rand.
, pitting Sears company managers against each other in a kind of Lord of the Flies death match.
Could just as easily read
pitting school principals and teachers against each other in a kind of Lord of the Flies death match.
putting them through humiliating rituals, like annual conference calls in which unit managers were forced to bow and scrape for money and resources.
Could read
putting teachers through humiliating rituals, like annual reviews based on the Danielson framework after which principals were forced to bow and scrape for money and resources.
We've got
...became obsessed with technology, wasting resources on developing apps as Sears’ physical stores became dilapidated and filthy.
as
...became obsessed with technology, wasting resources on Smartboards and apps as physical school buildings and their interiors became dilapidated and filthy. (the school I worked at in the Bronx had a bedbug problem that they could not attend to due to budget and time frame issues, an almost continuosly broken heating and air conditioning system, floors that were literally only cleaned 3 times a year, an asbestos problem, etc)
Then
Instead of investing in workers and developing useful products, he sold off valuable real estate, shuttered stores,
could just as easily be
Instead of investing in teachers and developing useful curricula and methodology, Bloomberg (if NYC) sold off valuable real estate to charter schools, shuttered schools marked as "failing" to fire teachers and hire new, cheaper ones...
I could go on with this.
Sorry to hijack the article, but it just shocked me how every little aspect of this article directly reflected mine and my parents' experiences as public school educators under our city's "business model" of education and federal initiatives that essentially pit schools an districts against one another while neglecting the basics and stripping funding from the most neediest.
I hate our economic mythology so much.
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