Who are we fighting for?

In my casual research tonight on the Occupy Wall Street movement, I came across this video, called "Occupy the Department Of Education":



I was really surprised. The Common Core Standards are, in my humble opinion, probably the best federal initiative for public education since I've started teaching, and maybe even ever. They are clear, measurable, rigorous and allow teachers plenty of creative freedom in the classroom. But then, was this demonstration really about the standards? I could see PTA members troubled over New York City's questionable recent history with public education. Mayor Bloomberg took over the schools and made miraculous gains by lowering the standards. But now the Common Core will raise them. Are people angry because they worry their kids might not meet the standards after years of low standards and be held back, as is the practice in New York? Or are they just angry they didn't have a say in whether or not the standards were adopted?

It's clear that many people, both on the left and on the right, currently feel alienated from their local, state and federal governments. I also came across this image tonight, which I thought was interesting. (And, as a teacher, I love Venn Diagrams!)


I guess my main concern from watching the Occupy DOE video is that I don't want the tone in this country to turn so combative, so "people" vs. "the man" that we throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. I don't want to see systems that can work abandoned because people feel disempowered (i.e., public education as the enemy.) When really, low standards for public school students is what we should be fighting.