A reader watched Jeb Bush on television today. She reports:
I am watching Jeb Bush talk on msnbc…he says to give teachers the deal that if students learn more you get paid more. He says it is complicated but it is doable, particularly with new assessment tools that exist. He says you should get paid more if your students make better gains than the teacher who has like type kids next door, paid more if you work in a more difficult school, paid more if you are teaching science and math, and that differentiated pay was part of issue in Chicago. Joe asks why teachers resist it and Jeb says that is why it is called collective bargaining. The union most represents the teachers who have been in the system longer. LIFO is protected by the union to protect the teachers who pay more dues.
He ends by saying that middle class families think they are doing ok because they are benchmarking themselves to the inner city. They are not (doing ok). He says we need to benchmark ourselves to the best of the world. This should be something that is a national purpose. The relatively exciting thing, he says, though he isn’t naive about this…”This is a place where there is not as much partisan fighting either. This is almost Switzerland.”
So the Republicans have co-opted the “caring for the poor inner city child and the power of knowledge” message, and the Democrats are letting the privatizers take over a bastion of our democracy. And my own children are sick of being tested instead of learning. Maybe we could just MOVE to Switzerland…or Finland.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Another graduate of the Ronald Reagan School of Commercial Acting —
Stick a can in his hand and he always keeps the label toward the camera.
fuc**ng fools are the bushies
Good Evening- If Texas has contracted with Pearson Publishing for 348 million, what are each of the other 46 states’ contracts with Pearson?? I would like to do the math. If these funds were applied to the poverty issues in the United States , I bet we could make an impact. Let’s follow the money to Pearson — is the Bush family a stock holder– investor?? What are the dividends paid?? Maybe we should just form an underground railroad and send all of the children to Finland where there is more respect for education .
Follow the money!!!
Marge
How do people with such limited number of brain cells get to positions of power? O…right..they have money so they buy their positions.
I made me sick to read his words.
i need to watch W.C. Fields and recognize true genius
Sociopathy doesn’t really require intelligence, just cunning.
Please tell me the “civic-minded” Bushes end with this generation. I don’t think I can handle one more of them entering politics.
If there’s a Bush talking then there’s a lie being told!
Jeb Bush is the smart one, they say.
I’m betting that all this is about Bush trying to position himself for 2016, now that the circuses of McCain-Palin and Romney-Ryan have made the country forget about his younger brother. I further suspect that he and his handlers see public education as a hot-button issue they can use to terrify the voters into voting Republican no matter how destructive their policies are to the interests of public: Generally, public schools are “big government”, unionized, are concerned with children, and have a wide range of performances and stories that can be turned into tales of fear and rage, in short for many baby boomer and Reagan era voters it brings back the memories of the late ’70s when Reagan swooped in to save the nation from socialism.
I didn’t see the interview (I don’t want to waste heart beats on Bush’s lies), but I doubt the Bush was pushed on any of his claims. For example: How does collective bargaining explain why teachers resist VAM? Collective bargaining only means that the teachers agree to have the union represent all of them in the contract negotiation; it doesn’t necessarily prevent differential pay for special skills or education. Perhaps the interviewer could have asked Bush to prove that testing is reliable enough to provide a reliable basis for the “performance” pay he is pushing–where’s it been tried? For how long? Where’s the data? I doubt he could answer a real query on this, since children cannot be lumped reliably into “types” that can form a real basis for comparison. In other words, it’s his claim so why not make him put up or shut up?
As for comparisons, if we’re marking ourselves against the world then let’s add things like social services, income inequality, and social mobility, all of which are huge factors in student performance. I wonder if Bush could have stopped sputtering long enough to answer.
Good Morning — Wouldn’t you just love a sneak peek in the Budh family investment portfolio?? Mom & dad are rumored to have purchased Slyvan Tutoring services for one of the boys. But, what I’d really love to see is which politicians are heavily invested with Pearson Publishing. Inquiring minds want to know. Discovering that the Libyan dictatorship made billions in investing in Pearson totally blew me out of the water. So, what is the really story here?? Spill the beans — not the oil!! Or is it about oil as well?? Follow the money. Protect the children from the insanity. Let them learn and grow in a caring environment free of fear. Teachers are fearing for their jobs with this ridiculous mysterious formula for growth scores. Perhaps the law suits against State Ed departments will continue to grow.
Msrge
Your first sentence says it all. I’ve been saying for the last couple of years that the Bushes would be setting up for 2016. Hell, they’ve got the Bush stepchild in the White House now doing their dirty work, and dirty work is all the Bush Crime Family knows. Talk about evil spawn since Prescott.
Two problems with Bush suggesting suburban schools compare their scores with international scores: affluent districts are already scoring comparable to other countries; and benchmarking in this fashion effectively concedes that the US should have a two-tiered education system. Kids born in poverty need to have access to the same opportunity to schools as kids born in affluence.
Jeb Bush should become more involved with the dairy industry. He seems pretty well-informed about it.
@moosesnsquirrels…
Yes, you are right. Of course he got no pushing from the interviewers. In fact, the only time the interviewers asked for explanation (and it wasn’t even a challenge…it was more of a “please all-knowing authority, share your wisdom”), he gave the nonsensical response that the reason teachers are not in favor of differential pay is collective bargaining. He was sputtering a bit during this answer! He didn’t have a good answer so he pulled out the collective bargaining (read “down with the self-interested unions”) card and I swear it was complete with a knowing, nudge-nudge, good ole boys chuckle…he was inviting them to join him in a “we all know how that goes” disdainful laughter. And it wasn’t even a Fox news show. That was the most discouraging part of all.
As a senior teacher in my building, I don’t pay more union dues than a teacher who started yesterday. Once again a politician speaking about something of which he knows nothing.
There are so many things wrong with this picture. Being in the teaching profession, most of the public generally hates you because they ‘see’ you with the summer off and a pension, which most of us hope will be intact by the time we get there. If summers off were only true. During the summer is when most of your planning and professional growth goes on…’behind the scenes.’
I went into this profession because of kids and making an impact in their lives. Believe me it wasn’t for the money and it wasn’t for the summers off. If money was my primary motivator, I certainly wouldn’t have went into education. I would have went into the private sector with a car and expense account.
I have been in education now for thirteen years. When I look back over my career, I am saddened by how much it has changed. It has gone from keeping kids after school for projects, helping kids during lunch, talking with kids through problems and challenges they are facing. Basically, genuinely caring about the child as ‘whole’ person. It has gone from parents standing behind the teacher and enforcing what the teacher taught at home. To teachers having to answer and explain their every move – grading, discipline, etc.
How things have changed. Society has changed, and I am afraid to say, not for the better. I had the pleasure of working with a man for a few years before the end of his career. I looked up to him and had great respect for him for who he was, who he is, how he taught, and what he stood for. My last year working with him I remember discussing a tough school issue. Our discussion ended in him telling me that I will be saying ‘these were the good old days.’ I never thought that that statement would ring true, but it does.
Our greatest resource is our children. It doesn’t take being in education to know that. New York State is no longer holding children as our primary focus. New York State is holding greed as the number one goal. It is insulting and degrading what they are attempting to do to the public school systems. It is tragic. This state can not blame everything on education, but that is exactly what the media is doing. If we had to play the blame game, I would blame state testing. Kids hate the tests, and so do the teachers. It has taken the ‘real’ learning out of school and made learning into a ‘teach to the test nightmare.’
I am good at what I do. I love what I teach. I have motivated and inspired many students and parents. I have battled my share too, for the child. My job’s dynamics have changed drastically over the years. To say I work hard would be a gross understatement. I work hard every single day. I take work home nightly and work extensively on weekends to catch up and work ahead. My ‘growth score’ from the 2012 NYS ELA is ‘developing.’ It is insulting to say the least for many different reasons. One thing is for sure, I will not apologize for how my students perform on a three day exam. My students work hard and do their best.
In China, the people respect doctors, lawyers and teachers. The parents stand behind the school and enforce education at home. Take a close look at how their society runs. In America, the people respect rock stars and professional athletes. The parents fight the teachers tooth and nail. The system fights the teacher tooth and nail.
Take a close look at how our society is currently functioning?
Public education is not to blame for the budget issues this country faces. It never was and never will be. However, public education is the scapegoat.
I suggest all of the ‘professionals’ designing this APPR for our country come on into the classrooms and teach for a year to see what it is like.
Also, I would like some facts from NYS: how much did testing cost NYS last year – isn’t it to the tune of $385 million dollars? If we follow the money of Pearson, policy makers, and charter schools, what would we find at the end of the road? I would like to see the policy makers salary too. I know it is greater than mine at $57,000. I know it is greater than my brother in law’s who has been education for close to 26 years making $90,000. People in the private sector after 26 years are making well above $90,000 a year. Believe me.
Public education and school taxes are an easy target to get people fired up about because school taxes are one of the only things they have the control to vote on. So what a great way to get people enraged.
I wonder what validity is this APPR? What is the purpose? I wonder, if I a ran my classroom the way the state is running the schools what that would look like?
“Thank you for coming to your child’s conference Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Your child’s average is a 73% in ELA. Why? Well, I can’t really tell you that. I do not grade papers for parents to see. I have my own formula that is a secret. You will just have to trust me. Your child is below average. What can you do to help? Oh, I can’t really tell you that because it is a moving target.”
As Troy Aikman said at last week’s tragic football game due to poor referee calling, “This is a joke.” I agree, this APPR scam is a complete joke. Even though APPR is out to destroy the unions and the public school system, the true tragedy at the end of the day is the children and our society loses at the end.
The state’s agenda is to conquer and divide the unions and public education for nothing more than their own greed. Bring it. Get the attorneys in place. When it is uncovered and exposed to the true agenda, and it will be, these policy makers may need to leave this country.
Widen your lense to see the big picture. We will not let our children and this country suffer. Game on.