Brown’s organization – ironically named the Partnership for Educational Justice – has hired some of the fanciest PR firms in the country, including the firm that ran Mitt Romney’s online program in 2012, to sell its snake oil. This will be her first big media appearance to sell it.
Brown is hoping to get softball questions and spin them to blame teachers. But there’s one big question she doesn’t want to get: Who’s funding these attacks?
Brown refuses to disclose her donors, but we know she’s deeply connected in the corporate “reform” crowd. Her husband even sits on the board of StudentsFirstNY!
Will you ask Stephen Colbert to make Campbell Brown answer the right questions? You can just click any of the suggested tweets below, or write your own using #Questions4Campbell and tagging @StephenAtHome.
Campbell Brown and her friends want to sell you the same “blame teachers” line we’ve seen from Michelle Rhee and right-wing politicians for years. They’ll tell you tenure means a job for life and that due process makes it impossible to dismiss ineffective teachers. Now, emboldened by a radical ruling in California, they’re spreading this misinformation across the country, starting in New York.
Click here for national news coverage of Campbell Brown’s lawsuit in New York State.
Click here for regional news coverage on the implications of the Vergara verdict for Connecticut.
Click here for our reaction to the Vergara verdict and additional background on the case.
Their claims couldn’t be further from the truth. In New York, teachers are granted tenure – and due process protections – after three years of success in the classroom. Once your boss grants you tenure, due process simply means he or she must produce just cause to discipline or terminate you. Due process gives teachers the protections to speak up for their students, stop cronyism and innovate in the classroom.
Campbell Brown is hoping to cruise through her media appearances unchallenged. But news shows and the media are paying more and more attention to social media.
Your tweets can be a powerful force in the fight to reclaim the promise of a high-quality public education for every child. Help us challenge the “blame teachers” crowd by adding your voice on Twitter right now.
In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President
Follow Randi on Twitter at @RWeingarten.
