Derrell Bradford | The 74
“When you work to change public education, people who don’t want change will try to reduce what you’re doing to a cliché. Then they’ll attack the cliché.
Here’s an example. If you publicly argue that merit should play a role in a teacher’s career — in compensation, job security, or advancement — your likely destination is a box labeled “Anti-Teacher.” Before long, you’ll also be cited in an article about the ‘war on teachers.’
Being in the box implies several things: You don’t understand schools or how hard teachers work and you think you can fire your way to improvement. The box implies the inverse as well: improving teaching is not necessary and an effort at reform, anywhere, is an attack on teachers everywhere.”