It’s entirely possible that the press didn’t get this right, and by error, selection, or omission, end up misrepresenting this exchange.
But I doubt it.
The news that Maine had signed on to the pilot program came as a surprise for some, including Maine Education Association President Chris Galgay. “For the last couple of hours, I have been on the phone trying to find out about this,” Galgay said Wednesday afternoon. “I’m very frustrated. I know few of the details. It sounds absolutely like a major initiative, but it also sounds like a top-down decision — one of many made with no input from practitioners in the field.”
Galgay’s association is the professional organization that represents the state’s teachers, who he said will be pivotal if the initiative is to succeed. “This is a think-tank in Washington who came up with this,” he said. “I’m not questioning the commissioner’s sincerity on this. I just know that to have anything work, you’ve got to have everybody at the table to agree on the goals.”
Connerty-Marin disagreed that the initiative is “top-down.”
“If districts don’t want to participate, they don’t have to,” he said. “This is an opportunity for districts that are looking to provide another pathway to students. It’s very in line with what we’ve been talking about over the years. There’s no imposition of anything here.” (Maine schools join plan allowing early entry to college after 10th grade, BDN, 2/18/10)
Long-time readers know it’s not often I back up the MEA leader, but in this case he’s right. There’s no evidence of any participation by interested parties before this announcement, nor is here any sign that input will be solicited now.
And the spokesperson comes off as snide*.
This brilliant piece offers a likely explanation of where the irritation and high-handedness come from.
“Their program is premised on believing a select group of superior people should be empowered to organize everyone else’s affairs.”
Indeed!
*OED Definitions: 1. Counterfeit, sham, bogus. Also more widely, inferior, worthless. 2. Of a person: cunning, sharp. 3. Insinuating, sneering, slyly derogatory.