This is from the Education Intelligence Agency, an education watchdog group. Here's the link: http://www.eiaonline.com/communique.htm
3) Ohio Union ''Framed'' Teacher Misconduct Series?
For some reason, it was a big week for a series of series on teacher misconduct. In a matter of days we had ''The ABCs of Betrayal'' from the Columbus Dispatch, ''Hidden Violations'' from Small Newspaper Group, and of course, the results of a seven-month Associated Press investigation into teacher sexual misconduct.
After the appearance of the first installment of the Columbus Dispatch series, EIA warned that the stories would create a firestorm from the teachers' unions, along with accusations of yellow journalism. Though there was some official reaction, the predicted firestorm did not ignite, and perhaps there is an explanation.
Despite the hard-hitting nature of the articles, a view of them in totality reveals the teachers' unions do not come under much specific criticism at all, while the district and the state appear to be the main targets. There are many possible reasons for reporters to take this angle, but the Ohio Education Association seems to think it was the union's own efforts that deflected criticism away from OEA.
OEA Executive Director Dennis Reardon told the union's board of directors last week that union staffers tried to ''frame the data'' revealed in the report. He stated that the reporters initially targeted OEA as central to the cover-ups of teacher misconduct but ''through our efforts'' that connection was dropped from the series.
If true, it's troubling to think that OEA could lobby its way out of bad press, but EIA suspects OEA is simply trying to take credit for a decision made independently by the Dispatch's reporters and editors.
By Education Intelligence Agency
3) Ohio Union ''Framed'' Teacher Misconduct Series?
For some reason, it was a big week for a series of series on teacher misconduct. In a matter of days we had ''The ABCs of Betrayal'' from the Columbus Dispatch, ''Hidden Violations'' from Small Newspaper Group, and of course, the results of a seven-month Associated Press investigation into teacher sexual misconduct.
After the appearance of the first installment of the Columbus Dispatch series, EIA warned that the stories would create a firestorm from the teachers' unions, along with accusations of yellow journalism. Though there was some official reaction, the predicted firestorm did not ignite, and perhaps there is an explanation.
Despite the hard-hitting nature of the articles, a view of them in totality reveals the teachers' unions do not come under much specific criticism at all, while the district and the state appear to be the main targets. There are many possible reasons for reporters to take this angle, but the Ohio Education Association seems to think it was the union's own efforts that deflected criticism away from OEA.
OEA Executive Director Dennis Reardon told the union's board of directors last week that union staffers tried to ''frame the data'' revealed in the report. He stated that the reporters initially targeted OEA as central to the cover-ups of teacher misconduct but ''through our efforts'' that connection was dropped from the series.
If true, it's troubling to think that OEA could lobby its way out of bad press, but EIA suspects OEA is simply trying to take credit for a decision made independently by the Dispatch's reporters and editors.
By Education Intelligence Agency
