My Speech to AFT Convention, Detroit, July 28, 2012

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1. Ann Herzer says:

   July 30, 2012 at 11:17 am

   Great speech! Thanks!

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2. Arthur Goldstein says:

   July 30, 2012 at 11:34 am

   Wonderful, brilliant and true!

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3. Kiersten Marek says:

   July 30, 2012 at 12:54 pm

   Reblogged this on Kmareka.com.

   Reply
4. "2old2tch" says:

   July 30, 2012 at 2:13 pm

   Well said.

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5. Kathy says:

   July 30, 2012 at 2:51 pm

   Great job!

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6. Linda says:

   July 30, 2012 at 8:29 pm

   Thank you Diane. When I am losing hope and exhausted I will watch it again and again!

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7. OurFuture.org says:

   July 30, 2012 at 11:21 pm

   Teachers Take A Stand. Will You?…

   If you’ve noticed lately the tendency in car commercials to show the vehicle against a background of an empty city street, you can assume it’s likely due to the abundance of empty city streets available in the place famous for being home to the major…

   Reply
8. Peg Metzger says:

   July 31, 2012 at 12:49 am

   Terrific, as always! Thanks for sharing your wisdom and for the message of hope.

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9. rmurphy12 says:

   July 31, 2012 at 10:08 am

   ummm… someday I’ll write more about union leadership incompetence. I started training yesterday in WA for my next certification, and I had to endure union leaders tell 500 of us teachers how unions are under attack and how dismal things are … duh.

   I KNEW that ronnie raygun and his buddies were out to make us all serfs when I was a 20 year old 4 buck an hour college drop out growed up on welfare cook … in 1980. This is career 3 for me, and I’ve had scores of jobs and scores of bosses.

   Randi and the NEA ‘leaders’ have been at the cutting edge of compromising – compromises which are just LESS garbage, NOT anything good. Our “leaders” have NOT been redefining the terms of debate, NOT been putting the liars of ed deform on the defensive.

   BTW – ‘they don’t understand’ when speaking of the deformers – they’re lying, stealing yuppie scum – if they don’t understand it is because they don’t care. If they don’t understand it is because the ONLY thing the yuppie scum care about is destroying communities so that we’re all doormats, serfs, catch farts and cannon fodder.

   rmm

   Reply
10. Stefanie says:

    August 3, 2012 at 7:00 pm

    Dr. Ravitch,
    You mentioned that US scores on NAEP are the highest ever. Has anyone tried to argue with you that that’s because of NCLB and high stakes testing? And if they did argue that, what would you say?

    Reply
    • dianerav says:

      August 3, 2012 at 7:27 pm

      the biggest gains occurred pre-NCLB.

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      • Stefanie says:

        August 6, 2012 at 11:00 am

        How often are NAEP scores released? Yearly? And the biggest gains were pre-NCLB, but they are still rising? Thanks,

      • dianerav says:

        August 6, 2012 at 11:02 am

        NAEP scores are released every other year in reading and math. There has been a steady upward movement. The biggest gains were recorded before NCLB. On long-term trend NAEP, biggest narrowing of achievement gap was in late 70s-early 1980s.

11. LG says:

    August 17, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    Thank you for your constant crusading on the issue. Teacher-bashing is rampant, and those who engage in this behavior must be taken to task. To simply ignore this culture is to allow it to thrive.

    I especially enjoyed this:

    “The reformers like to say that merit pay will compel teachers to raise test scores, as if you aren’t trying now. What you need to know is that merit pay has been tried again, and again, and again for a hundred years–it’s never worked.

    It doesn’t work because it undermines teamwork and collaboration. Merit pay destroys the culture of the school, and the evidence is clear. But just past this week, a new study came out. This new study says that if you give teachers extra money at the beginning of the year and threaten to take it away, then the scores will go up.

    This is called ‘Loss Aversion.’

    This is not merit pay, it’s manipulative and it’s sadistic. I bet the scores will go up if you threaten to cut off teachers’ fingers…or to confiscate their homes–that’ll work, too. ‘Loss Aversion’ insults the dignity of teachers.”

    The reason these tactics have become so fashionable is that economists have taken over our country’s politics. Money seems to be the root of all problems and the source of all solutions. This is simply not so, however, allowing education professionals to have a say in the negotiation of the compensation they will receive for doing their jobs is important as it promotes what is called a “dedicated workforce.” Nobody gets rich as a teacher, but teachers at least need to be able to make some sort of living.

    Reply
    • Ann Herzer says:

      August 17, 2012 at 7:03 pm

      The people in charge of destroying education have no interest in professional opinions.When you and other professional educators understand this fact and stand and start “fighting” with the truth that this whole movement is “profit motitaved” not educationally– or concern for children or the community, then, and only then, may we accomplish some results. This is the bottom line. Wake up good people and see the truth! Denial is not going to get the job done; only hard truth and work will turn this travesty around in my opinion. Ann

      Reply