Leonie Haimson on GEM: "It's a very effective, powerful organization that's growing every day"

I was amused at Beth Fertig's report (see below) on Parents Across America and Educators 4 Excellence (of course, no senior teachers meet the criteria) as if an organization of parents fighting ed deform and a group of teachers paid to be organizers by ed deformers are equivalentl in some way.

Now there is a group called the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) which I helped found two years ago that is unfunded and consisting of almost all classroom teachers. A group that has held forums and rallies and built alliances with parents and community groups that gets no press. 

At the inaugural Parents Across America event featuring Diane Ravitch, a teacher asked how teachers in NYC can get involved in the movement. Leonie Haimson recommended they get involved in GEM.

Here are some reports on the PAA conference last Monday, which was basically uncovered by the press. See my sidebar for links to videos I made.

Building connections at Parents Across America forum

PAA is compared to E4E below.

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/feb/14/two_new_groups_step_into_debate_over_teachers/

Two New Groups Step into Debate Over Teachers

Monday, February 14, 2011 - 04:54 PM

By Beth Fertig

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How much should seniority matter if the city has to layoff thousands of teachers this fall? Two new groups are trying to influence the debate.