Former Badass Teacher Discusses Two Means Through Which the BATs Have Lost Their Way

Brian Crowell is a former  member of the Research Team of  the national Badass Teachers (BATs). He identifies as an organizing member of the Badass Teachers of Color Organization, co-founded with 13 peers and BAT founder Mark Naison.

Sometimes Bats can be unreasonable. 

Via Naison's blog With a Brooklyn Accent, Crowell details areas in which he feels the BATs have lost their way. As a former member who was kicked out of their groups and who was asked to remove a certain post on this EduStank regarding * Common Core as child abuse,* -- effectively asked to self-censor -- in order to garner even the consideration of re-admittance,  I am certain there are other aspects where the organization has failed to live up to its once high standards and continues to fail. 

My most-recent disappointment with them came today, in fact, when I noticed I'd been completely blocked from seeing their twitter feeds despite not having direct contact or issues with them for some time. I'd still tweet to them from time to time with info I thought they'd want to know about, and I'd read their feed for info I thought needed retweeting or attention. Now, though, I can't even do that. It's a shame too, because if BATs are good for one thing, it's being a one-stop repository for great articles  regarding education reform nationwide. 

Control the information flow and access, and you control voice. Guess the BATs have learned a thing or two from the ed reformers after all. 

Dr. Naison left the BATs a while ago, and unconfirmed reports suggest he found the group too hung up on "playing nice" while not engaging in tough critical discourse with those whose opinions might have been aligned (ahem) with some BAT stances but not others. 

Crowell suggests, "The National BATS Organization has no interest in restoring the true left and progressive roots of Labor" and sees this as one evolution of the group that deviates from its initial intent. Furthermore, he feel the BATs' union-friendly stance has become extreme in the face of reason. As a BAT who was pro-union "mostly" but wasn't and still isn't afraid to critique unions or even suggest some things they allow support bad practice and fiscal waste (rubber rooms, anyone?), I feel Crowell's pain.

And my guess it is true pain, too. I don't agree with everything Naison writes and I probably wouldn't agree with all of Crowell's opinions either. But to see an organization take on traits of the things it wanted to fight and  turn to extremism must be devastating if you were among the founding members. I know not renewing my NCTE and CEE memberships based on principles (I'd like to see a more hard-lined anti-Common Core stance from the groups and don't want to support duplicitous, wishy-washy stances the main NCTE leadership has supported) was hard enough for me, and NCTE has been around since 1911, long before I walked the Earth. 

Read more about Crowell's critiques *here*.

As well, it should be noted that critiquing the BATs publicly or even on their private pages  -- and especially critiquing the moderators -- is an offense for which one can be banned that group. Maybe the BAT motto should be "Align, Resign, or Pine" given their tactics and how they are indubitably  driving away their former leaders and potential future allies.