IF YOU'RE NOT OUTRAGED, YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION

I came out of a store this morning and found someone kneeling behind my parked car.  I immediately assumed he'd hit me and was looking at the damage.  But when the man saw me coming, he stood up and smiled instead.

He'd seen my bumper sticker and liked it so much he wanted a picture of it:

"If you're not outraged, you are not paying attention."

It pretty much sums up how I feel about things in general.  

Although I first got the sticker during Bush Jr.'s infamous days in the White House, this saying has sadly become even more relevant today as 1% money invades and threatens to overcome our democratic way of life.

This is not a popular opinion to voice, but I wonder how different things might be in education today if more of my colleagues were a tad more outraged.  If more teachers were paying attention, connecting the dots, and seeing through the deception that goes by the name of "reform," I wonder if Misters Gates, Broad, Walton, et. al. would have been so successful worming their way into our schools and classrooms if they'd been questioned at every turn.

I don't actually like seeing all the connections.  (The constant cognitive dissonance hurts my brain.)  I don't enjoy questioning the motives of people who claim to have children's best interest as their priority.  But it also doesn't take very long to feel the outrage, if you're willing to pay a little attention.

Compliance and obedience and doing what you're told without questioning are not the hallmarks of exemplary professional behavior.  (Contrary to what nearly every administrator has told me.)  If your job is to place children's best interests at the heart of your efforts, then you are obliged, compelled, and actually mandated to think first before acting.  Use the critical thinking skills so avidly talked about in education circles.

Sometimes the most professional thing to do is to question and to find another way.  

For the sake of the kids.

And the future of public education.

Please.

And if you need a place to start your eye-opening and to gain some "BI" (background information,) then I highly recommend two blogs and a book:

dianeravitch.net         and       curmudgucation.blogspot.com
and Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You're Told To Do Is Wrong.