Coach Bob Sikes in Florida knows how phony that state’s A-F grading system is. (This was confirmed recently by Matt Di Carlo of the Shanker Institute, who pointed out that the state changed the system to improve the results.)
Now he finds that Oklahoma State Superintendent Janet Barresi is copying the Jeb Bush playbook.
This is hardly surprising because she is a member of the Jeb Bush group of rightwing state superintendents called “Chiefs for Change.”
Barresi wants Oklahoma to grade its schools with a simple-minded A-F grade, just like Jeb Bush did. If Jeb did it, it must be right. Remember the “Florida miracle”?
Unfortunately a group of Oklahoma researchers examined her proposal and sharply criticized it.
No problem for Barresi. She has been going around the state telling people that the researchers have recanted their views. Except they haven’t.
Before Barresi was elected superintendent, she was a speech pathologist. In 1984, she became a dentist. Later, she opened Oklahoma City’s first charter school and served on the board of another charter school. She is a big supporter of privatization.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
A dentist now runs a school system??? Why am I not surprised. We saw how well a magazine editor did here in NYC.
Wherever there’s a miracle in education we find the Bush aristocracy’s fingerprints. First Texas and now FL. International influence peddling in oil, finance, and weapons just isn’t enough for this family, now they’re hijacking our public school money.
After being told the A-F system is irreparably flawed as it is designed and cannot be fixed. The OK SDE is now asking for public comment of proposed changes. They completely ignored the last set of public comments, so the track record is not good. I find it amazing that a peer reviewed study by the two flagship universities in the state is being ignored.Of course our SuperinDENTIST knows better than these education experts. Her two years as Superintendent is worth much more experience and knowledge wise than a Doctorate in Education with years of teaching experience and research experience. (dripping sarcasm here)
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I attended the public comments meeting the last time they were solicited. The meeting was scheduled during state-wide Spring Break, and not one member of the School Board or the Superindentist attended. We spoke into a tape recorder wielded by the OSDE’s chief counsel. Then we were all summarily ignored. We in OK are currently following Jeb down the Rat Hole. Thank you for shining a light on our plight.
What next–a gastroenterologist?! (Although, after all the b.s. teachers have to put up with, we all need one–yet, in an appropriately professional capacity.) In any event, Claudia, take heart–push back in Chicago, for example, is having a positive effect. Keep commenting and showing up and talk to anyone from the press that you can. And, I might add, reporters ARE starting to write about what’s really going on (recently, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Sun-Times and–miracle!–The Chicago Tribune, not so much noted as a paper that is pro-teacher or anti-charter {they had several good/negative pieces about the infamous UNO Charters}).
U.S.A. Today has done a GREAT job with the D.C. & Atlanta cheating scandals.
As I’ve said before–there’s a Pulitzer Prize out there for someone!
No surprise. The privatization/corporatization movement doesn’t care about democracy or actual education. It is full of a bunch of vultures and crooks who are out to get rich off of children. Sorry to hear you are heading down Rat Hole into the sewer. This whole movement is the best con going in America.
To top it all off, SDE officials have been saying that the A-F report cards “were never meant to be statistically accurate documents. They were meant to be a tool for parents to determine the proficiency of the schools that their children attend.” Wha…wha…What? CRAZY!! Barresi needs to go back to examining teeth and leave our education system alone!
A-F report cards for districts have to be one of the dumbest ideas on the planet. A school can have a low rating and yet have plenty of graduates who go on to college and do fine. This is what makes me angry about these stupid ratings. A school that serves wealthy, well-educated parents is heralded as a great school. Big deal, it has high scores on tests. What a surprise. Please put an end to the stupid idea of grading schools.