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Anne--

Thanks for sharing this link. Like you, I'm concerned about what I already know about this highly publicized media opportunity to "debate" education reform. NBC has been criticized for not inviting regular classroom teachers to the featured discussions. The Teacher Town Hall is an on-line event "just for teachers" which blogger Renee Moore suggests is akin to the "kiddie table"--and even so, the teachers who will be allowed to speak are TFA corps members, KIPP and other charter school teachers and those chosen and for raising test scores.

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/teachmoore/2010/09/teachers_on_sidelin...

NBC has also been removing messages and blocking teachers from posting on its Education Nation Facebook page.

The narrative has been written already: our American public schools are failing--in crisis!--and the villains are bad teachers (especially unionized teachers), the heroes are Teach for America and the New Teacher Project, and the solution is shutting down public schools where the kids do poorly on tests, and ferreting out low-scoring teachers in successful schools (and replacing them with cheap two-year adventure teachers).

Shutting down public schools, destroying already-fragile and stressed communities in our poorest neighborhoods, is antithetical to the mission of this much-admired blog and center for dialogue.

But--we can never stand on the sidelines. Those who support public education must watch these programs, discuss them in our teachers' lounges and speak out against half-truths and misguided fictions. There's a reason why most parents give their child's school an A or B...

Nancy - Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and the link to Renee's piece, which I saw soon after it was posted. I think it is an extremely well-written piece that beautifully describes an important oversight of our media and policymakers.

I truly believe that NBC's intentions are good here. But teachers' voices are out of the main discussions, here and elsewhere. Here on Education Nation. Last week on "Oprah," which aired two episodes on public education, neither of which included a teacher voice. In DC recently, and as a result Mayor Fenty was ousted, not because of the school reforms implemented under his reign but because of the way in which they were implemented.

I watched the Teacher Town Hall (and yes--those teachers were pre-selected...from my understanding, NBC first identified particular schools, then asked for nominees from those schools, then select participants from them). The concerns I have with that process is that it did not reflect that reality of teachers in America--about 3% of American students attend charter schools. So it seems that logically about 3% of participants at the event would represent charter schools. That did not seem to be the case. Which is disappointing. Which does suggest that NBC has taken sides in this debate.

To be fair, I thought that Brian Williams did an excellent job of moderating the discussion. I thought that a variety of viewpoints were expressed. (Certainly to a much larger degree than I personally felt was evident on "Meet The Press," where the narrative seemed clear and the villain/hero of the discussion pre-identified).

But the greater point remains. Why aren't teachers featured on panels? Why is their event "just for teachers" while the other events are targeted at a wider audience? I see certainly see the kiddie table metaphor...

But you are right. Those who support public education must watch these programs, discuss them and speak out against the half-truths and misguided fictions they contain (and there were a few yesterday already). I hope that they do so.

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