Karp: Talking Points- Hyperlinks

  

     In Karp's response to the film "Waiting for Superman", he asks the question, "Who's bashing teachers and public schools, and what can we do about it?"  He mentions all the people who have opinions about the topic of public schools; most of whom don't really know what they are talking about.  Although Karp agrees that there are some very serious problems in the public school system as we know it, he still is an advocate of public education.  
     Karp disagrees vehemently with the film "Waiting for Superman" and says that it's central message is that "public education is failing because of bad teachers and their unions and that charter schools are the solution."  

       Karp also talks a bit about the controversy in Central Falls, RI.  He disagrees with the President and Secretary of Education Duncan for being in agreement with the decision to fire the entire staff for it's low performance of standardized tests.  This leads to the question, will more school districts follow suit and fire their teachers if their students fail to make the grade?


The following is a link to an article posted on cnn.com about the firing of teachers in Central Falls.  We made national history with this decision.  

"All Teachers Fired at Rhode Island School"  

This decision to fire all the teachers was supported by Deborah Gist, Rhode Island's Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.  The decision did not go over as well with the teachers and students.  

Another point in the film "Waiting for Superman" that Karp disagrees with is the idea of merit pay.  Karp states that, "The merit pay plans would also require yet another massive increase in standardized testing to deal with the fact that less than 25% of teachers in most school systems teach Math and Language Arts which is what most states currently test."  

Pros and Cons of Merit Pay

The trailer for "Waiting for Superman."