"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Madeloni Ends TURNcoat Paul Toner Era for MTA

Amazing and wonderful!  From CPS:



Congratulations to Barbara Madeloni, president-elect, and Janet Anderson, vice president-elect of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Madeloni, the former director of the Secondary Teacher Education Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was elected at the MTA's annual meeting of delegates by a vote of 681 to 584. She pledged to work with educators, parents and students to defend public education and combat high-stakes standardized testing. 

On her campaign's Facebook page, Madeloni wrote, "What an amazing few days! The annual meeting was electric with energy and enthusiasm, and a palpable sense of hope and possibility." Politico reported that the vote signaled a new direction in Massachusetts. "As she takes the helm of the 110,000-member MTA, Madeloni vows to call for a three-year moratorium on high-stakes testing, including a ban on using test results to evaluate schools and teachers. She promises a vigorous campaign to expose 'corporate forces' behind the education reform movement and to seek ties with other unions 'to develop a national strategy to resist the undoing of public education.'" See EduShyster for more about Madeloni's campaign message.

Anderson is a veteran 5th grade
teacher at the Benjamin Friedman Middle School in Taunton, Massachusetts, and serves as President of the Taunton Education Association. In her campaign, she talked about the Taunton School Committee's endorsement of the National Resolution on High Stakes Testing. Taunton was the first Massachusetts school committee to support it, Anderson said. It should not be the last. 

CPS sends its best wishes to MTA President Paul Toner and Vice President Tim Sullivan as they move on to other endeavors. 

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:54 PM

    Barbara was interviewed by WBUR today. You can listen to the interview here

    :Q&A with Massachusetts Teachers Association President-elect Barbara Madeloni (with audio)

    http://learninglab.wbur.org/2014/05/19/qa-with-massachusetts-teachers-association-president-elect-barbara-madeloni-with-audio/

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  2. Anonymous9:31 PM

    I get nervous whenever someone comes from nowhere to win an election. The MTA membership should watch very closely; what seems too good to be true is usually much, much too good to be true. Why isn't she teaching at this time? Why does she feel the need to change jobs every few years? just asking ~~

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  3. Barbara hardly came from nowhere. You might get an intro by reading one of these stories about her:
    http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2012/06/uoon-supports-barbara-madeloni-and.html
    or
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/education/new-procedure-for-teaching-license-draws-protest.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&smid=fb-share

    The MA delegates are to be congratulated for changing course from the pro-corporate lawyer, Paul Toner.

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