Poster: "Shouldn't Everyone Be Well Red?"

Kenneth Cole put up a billboard in New York City raising questions about teachers' self-interest, and as you can imagine teachers aren't particularly happy about it. GothamSchools has the backstory on the company's history of controversial positions and where Cole sends his kids. 

Comments

[CarolineSF]

The "history of controversial positions" doesn't normally seem to include right-wing, union-busting messages such as the current one. Kenneth Cole has taken a sharp turn toward the Tea Party.

Here's a petition calling on Kenneth Cole to take down the campaign: http://signon.org/sign/take-down-your-hurtful?source=s.tw&r_by=470943

I learned from Facebook that Columbia University students are speaking out against the Kenneth Cole campaign -- a group unconnected to the activists in Parents Across America, United Opt Out and others. So this marketing strategy has backfired hugely, offending large swaths of customers and potential customers. Not a savvy business move.

[CarolineSF]

Fred Klonsky adds more illuminating information:

The Kenneth Cole billboard "showed a picture of a woman in red with lots of cleavage and a message that teacher unions didn’t care about students. Odd juxtaposition of message and image.

Kenneth Cole doesn’t like unions.

In fact, Cole is complicit in the murder of union organizers in the third world countries where his shoes are made." http://preaprez.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/kenneth-cole-is-it-the-shoes/

[Sarah]

The question for me is, how are we defining underperforming? According to state standards? Or federal? Or student evaluation?

[Leigh]

I like the message of this because I feel like teachers are falling behind. Students are not the same as they were 20 or more years ago when all these teachers started their jobs. Therefore, teachers cannot teach the same way every single year. Plus, aside from older teacher that are stuck in their habits, there are also many people who should just not be teachers. It takes a special person to be a teacher, not every one can do it. I fear that people just get into teaching because they feel it is easy. It is not easy and it is not right that people think they can continue down this same path of destruction.