Dear Educators,
Many of you know that I have been an educator for 25
years. I have taught high school in
public and private settings, worked as a teacher educator in higher education
settings, authored many articles and books on education, teaching, learning,
and curriculum, and served as a public school partner. I attended public schools, and sent my own
children to public schools. My sons will
both attend one of the best public universities in the country next year. You
can and should call me a public school advocate with broad experience in the
American educational system.
I am writing today to share my candidacy for Congress in
Ohio District 8. Speaker of the House Boehner will not run unopposed in 2014.
John Boehner speaks the language of corporate education
reform. His position on private
charter schools discussed in a Fox News
Editorial on 1/22/14 reflects what I know and what millions of Americans -- and
especially millions of American educators -- know about the privatization of
public education: it doesn't work, and it threatens democracy. In fact, the discrediting of public schools,
the bashing of teachers and putting even greater constrictions on their work,
the threatening of their professional and labor rights, and the siphoning of
public money into private hands have led us to a brink in education, the kind
that makes the Speaker's vision of a private education landscape even possible.
John Boehner believes that "school choice" works.
You and I both know that school choice simply means choice for a few, neglect
for the majority, and immense profit for the corporations.
As I and many others have been predicting, we see the signs
of a private, corporate takeover coming to pass that will destroy the
democratizing function of public education, that is the political connection
that citizens have to making decisions about their public schools, and the end
of any resemblance of local control over the school program and the
expenditures of funds for students. And,
of course, an end result will be that our students will be no better off, learn
far less, be less ready for college and work, and not be ready to act as
citizens.
We need students who can problem solve and think in order to
reclaim our democracy.
Another end result of all of this movement will be to line
the pockets of corporate education executives and to weaken an education system
that still, despite the odds, produces strong citizens and students. All of the most important hallmarks of public
education are eroding, or being taken away by corporate raiders who want to
control what our students learn, how they learn it, and how they pay themselves
to takeover schools and the education system.
When the citizens of Ohio's District 8 send me to Washington
in November, I will work as hard as I can to turn back further attempts to
privatize schools, work to re-authorize the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA, its last iteration known as No Child Left Behind, and we know how
that worked out!) so that we can move past the damages done to schools, teachers,
and students who have seen their public schools become test factories and their
teachers reduced to robots reading from a script, and lead a watch dog group
that demands equal accountability for the use of taxpayer dollars wrapped up in
inferior, substandard educational settings that are funded by taxpayer money
but are not nearly as good as our public schools. Our families and communities, children and
teachers, deserve great schools. They
don't get the great schools everyone deserves, in every neighborhood across our
cities, suburbs, and rural areas, because politics and the promise of private
economic gain from education have trumped what we know about schools and
citizens: our first priority should be to support and build strong public
schools, not tear them down.
Teachers, parents, students and citizens, I am asking for
your help. I need to spread the word of my candidacy via social media. It's
essential that we get the word out to folks who understand the education issues
at stake in this election. The majority
of the population has received minimal information regarding the truth about
the Race to the Top policies that are swiftly privatizing our public education
system. We need more educators in Washington fighting the good fight in order
to reclaim our public schools and improve them to ensure that all children
receive a whole and equitable education. I am ready to take on that fight with the
children in mind - that is my focus - that is my end goal.
Please tweet, Facebook, email and share the news of my
candidacy for Congress Ohio District 8. Repost this letter on your blogs. Please "like" my Facebook
page at Tom Poetter for Congress Ohio District 8 and share articles as we post them.
Nationally, we must work together to take down the corporate machine. I am
ready to get to work.
Thank you for your support,
Tom
Tom Poetter on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Poetter-4-Congress-Ohio-District-8/355342981278106
Website: http://www.poetterforcongress.com/
Tom Poetter's Response to John Boehner's editorial on school
choice links below:
Find Boehner's Editorial here at this link: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/01/22/why-school-choice-opens-door-to-american-dream/
Find Tom's earlier Facebook response and comments at this
link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Poetter-4-Congress-Ohio-District-8/355342981278106
I wish you well in your endeavors.
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