I have been very disturbed by the Times Union’s recent stance on education. Now I am not talking about what comes from their editorial board, in my opinion they have long been on the wrong side of education but at the end of the day I and I hope others understand that is just ones opinion. No what has me disturbed is what they have been printing in their news pieces about education.
Topher Sanders wrote, and when faced with financial shortfalls for the past three years, the board has stood tall in the face of harsh criticism, holding multiple public forums to discuss potential cost-saving measures.
One thing he didn’t mention in the article and they didn’t mention at these multiple public forums was they were sitting on over a hundred million dollars in reserves. Oh yes that’s right while they were firing people, ending programs and pleading poverty they were sitting on quite a bit of cash.
I know the Times Union likes to parrot the District’s all is well, look at us we are making progress message, but many of us in the trenches, teachers, as well as community members and parents see things in a different light. Instead of just giving the side of the story, which makes the board seem heroic (for just doing their job I remind you) don’t we deserve to see the whole picture?
Then a few days later Matt Dixon wrote, Bush, who has endorsed Bean, advocated for a proposal dubbed the "parent trigger" bill in the last session. It would have allowed parents of students attending a poorly performing public school to vote to convert it to a charter school. The bill drew heated opposition from teachers' unions.
What he doesn’t mention is the PTA and just about every other parent group in Florida also opposed the parent trigger along with the teacher’s unions. When Dixon leaves out that pertinent information he makes the teacher’s union seem obstructionist when nothing is farther from the truth. Again important information is left out and how can people make up their mind about a subject when they are getting just half the story.
How can we have an honest conversation about education, when those that are supposed to safe guard the public trust and be unbiased in their reporting give misleading or incomplete information?
The Times Union can and should do better.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
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