If you have been reading BrianHornback.Com for more than a week in our almost 10 year life. If you have read Jack McElroy over at the Big Metal Shed on the Hill, WBIR, WATE, WVLT when they refer to me they use Conservative Blogger just before Brian Hornback. So, with that a basis for this post it should come as no surprise that I read a lot of TEA Party, Constitutional and Evangelical Conservative material, online and print.
Back on August 30, 2013 one of my resources, MinuteMenNews.Com had this post. The post details an organization of teachers that have joined in campaign to oppose the “unprecedented “Common Core” nationalization of K-12 education under the Obama administration.” The organization is named BAT for Badass Teacher Association, their website is located here. The website breaks down each state that has an active chapter. When you click on Tennessee, you are directed to a Facebook group that is a closed group. However, when clicking on Members there are in excess of 820 members. Across the state there are 7 Admins to the group. At least 3 of the admins are from East TN with one being from Knoxville.
A Screen Shot of the heading from the Closed BAT TN Facebook Group
Interesting is the description of the closed group. It says that all are to be active teachers. I noticed at least one student, several Knoxville news gatherers / reporters. Because of the requirements for being a member, I declined to ask to join the group.
A screen shot of the requirements for membership in the Closed Facebook BAT Group
A second screen shot of the requirements of the Closed Facebook BAT Group
I am not opposed to a grassroots or an organized effort. As a former School Board Member, I fought for teachers and for non certified employees. That is in part why I was a one term member. However, I believe in full and transparent disclosure. If this is a concerted organized effort, GREAT. I do take some offense in the name of the organization. Being in the South and the buckle of the Bible Belt, to be a member of an organization with this name is disrespectful. How would the teachers feel if out of a class of 25 students, 5 or 10 of the students began to organize against the structure of the classroom and named themselves Badass Students? I suspect when discovered the students would be expelled by some School Board Policy.
Hi Brian, After reading your blog I wanted to share some info about the BATs. The BATs started as a joke between professor Mark Naisson at Fordham University and some teachers. Dr. Naisson has been one of the most vocal critics of No Child Left Behind & Race to the Top (As have most teachers, education experts & researchers.) They set up the BAT Facebook page in the fall of 2013 thinking some people might see it & share their experiences on this national (disastrous) school ”reform’. To their surprise the BAT Facebook page had over 30,000 hits in a little over a week. There are clearly thousands of frustrated teachers in the US. Hence many state FaceBook groups, including TN, sprang up to discuss local issues. That’s the history of the BATS. Purely grassroots. No money, no political parties, no PACS, no union support. Just a large group of educators fed up who don’t want to be bullied by bought & paid for government officials, private foundations, the financial industry, or testing corporations. I understand that Badass is an offensive word to many. But with so many teachers feeling powerless, the name instilled a sense of control that is being stripped from our teachers.
What I find fascinating is how grassroots opposition to these bad policies has united groups who are traditionally on opposing sides. Teachers and parents from both political parties oppose the test and punish mandates, the Common Core standards, the unprecedented meddling of billionaires in classrooms who are accountable to no one, and the secret sale of our children & teachers data to private corporations. For more info on national issues here is one of my favorite parent groups. It was started by parents across the country- no billionaire sponsors – just passion for doing what is right for kids. http://parentsacrossamerica.org/
Thanks for listening.
Hello,
My name is Lucianna Sanson and I am a Tennessee BAT group administrator. I just wanted to clarify a couple of things regarding members of our group. First, Knoxville teachers may be members of our group, but they are NOT using the BATs name or logo in any way to promote their “protests.” Believe me, if they were “organizing” under BATs- they would be using the logo and tee-shirts and sending information out publicly as BATs. In fact, it is my understanding that the teachers who are speaking out in Knoxville are doing so in protest of the way the Knoxville school district, and the policies implemented by the district, has been treating teachers. Any overlap of BATs and Knox County teachers is purely coincidental. Teachers that speak out tend to find each other and stick together. Second, our group is made up of teachers AND those who support public education. Yes, there are people in our group who are not teachers but who have requested to join or who I HAVE ASKED TO JOIN- since they have obviously spoken out in support of our teachers, students, and schools. The mission statement of our state group is the one developed by the National Badass Teachers group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/BadAssTeachers/) – founded by Dr. Mark Naison, Priscilla Stanstead, and Marla Kilfoyle,- of which Tennessee is simply an offshoot. Third, our group, and its cause, is obviously transparent since ANYONE can access it, take pictures of our agenda, find our members names, or ask to join. If it were not, then the group would be “secret”- not “closed.” Finally, if you have any questions or would like an official statement from a Tennessee Badass Teacher- feel free to contact me since I am the main administrator of our state group.
PS- There is already a Badass Students Association- FYI 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1302124636593412/
Respectfully,
Lucianna Sanson
Tennessee Teacher and Tennessee Parent
Tennessee BATs admin