About once a week, I receive emails from an organization I do not know. It contains beautiful graphics claiming to rate different aspects of education. Usually I delete without opening, but this one caught my eye because it said it was rating the states.
The email says:
“Hi Diane,
“Ever wonder how your state working to create a better education system? Please take a look at this infographic based on data from the State of Education: State Policy Report Card 2013. Feel free to share and discuss the infographic on Diane Ravitch’s Blog as you like.
“Like all of our educational materials, we’ve published this under a free-to-use Creative Commons license. All sources are cited in the footer but if you have any questions, or are open to a guest post on the topic, do not hesitate to get in touch.
“Mu.
—
Muhammad Saleem
http://muhammadsaleem.com
(312) – 576 – 1575”
*******************************
I did open it and found that it rated Louisiana and Florida as the top states in the nation for education policy. Ha! The state where Bobby Jindal and John White are handing out public money to Bible schools and for-profit vendors. And the state touted by Jeb Bush where the graduation rate is lower than that of Alabama.
I quickly looked to the source and realized that it was Rhee’s StudentsFirst, which ranked states based on criteria she likes, such as readiness to privatize and to eliminate all rights for teachers.
So, yes, I decided it was time to cite this info graphic on my blog and warn readers not to trust any of its slick packaging.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I don’t think this is anything more than a guy who does promotions for pay, given what’s on his webpage. The link to the ratings is another matter.
He’s like the people who write me all the time wanting to contribute a “guest piece” on any subject of my choosing, that invariably is intended to promote on-line education or something equally fraudulent and heinous. Or they offer to pay me a tiny sum to insert a link in one of my blog pieces that goes to one of their websites. I never accept. The fellow whose page you’ve given obviously has a different sort of ethical compass.
A bit unrelated, but does anyone know anything about the Office Depot Real Change Project television show? I am watching it now on channel 2 in NY and am very pleased with how they are recognizing teachers. Sadly, I am also thinking, am I missing something? Can this be real or is there something I am failing to see? I plan to support Office Depot as the show is so positive, but if anyone knows something I don’t realize, please clue me in.
They will do anything to promote their “Destructive” policies.
George, you never told us about the question you asked Steven Brill that was so shocking that you were asked to leave his book talk. Please, what was it? Thanks.
It’s nice that Diane dislikes the governors of LA and FL.
Can she also expound on the results of the policies she dislikes in those
two states? Is there a profoundly excellent solution to the Education
issue in America that Diane supports?
troll alert
I am a troll according to Diane’s mind. I search
for people who denigrate policies hoping they have
better solutions. From Diane, I have seen none.
I comment on this blog every 2 or 3 weeks or less.
I ask questions that liberals and progressives will not answer.
I am an 8th grade math class tutor (in the classroom) for at risk kids. I love those kids.
Diane’s blog has provided no information so far to help me or those
kids.
Diane,
what should be done? What is your solution to the failing
public schools where kids can’t read when the graduate
high school?
I think we agree, that parents are the most important factor
in education. How can we proceed from that agreement?
Progressives never engage in thoughtful discussion. I don’t
think Diane is one of those people. She knows a huge amount
of information about public education in America.
I was publicly educated and respect, profoundly, public education.
I volunteer in a public middle school.
Can you answer my questions, Diane?
I read your blog to learn. All I have learned so far is your hate
for any form of education reform.
I get blocked a lot for my questions.
If you’re getting “blocked,” maybe it’s the language, not the content, of your questions. You obviously announce your political agenda above; do you expect to get a lot of love when you make gross generalizations about “progressives and liberals”? Think again. Actually, think a first time. Because that’s just nonsense.
Further, not having a magic bullet to offer to a deeply complex problem: 1) is a sign of intelligence; 2) does not disqualify anyone from criticizing patently flawed pseudo-solutions, particularly those that merely echo bad ideas that have been tried and found sadly wanting in the past. The only thing new about the educational deform movement is the boldness with which it shows it’s financial motives.
Michael Paul Goldenberg
I am not and have never been the best at communication.
I have never asked for love, I ask for engagement. If anyone
hates me for how I communicate (I don’t see any hate in my comments)
then they simply don’t want to engage. If you can find “hate” in my
posts, please show me. I have learned from the Internet in the past
and I still learn.
However, getting blocked for asking questions is a real no-no in the
world of intelligent people. If I ask questions like
“Have you stopped beating your wife?” that would be a different
issue. If I did, that should be pointed out and some people should block
me, but other rational people should just point out the nonsensical question.
Progressives and liberals have blocked me for questions. If I have
been impolitic here, show me. I can be educated.
I haven’t a clue what you said or who blocked you for it. But again, when you come in offering gross generalizations, it’s off-putting. The phrase “get a lot of love” wasn’t meant literally, but rather to suggest that you seem to be somewhat spoiling for a fight (I recognize that you don’t think that’s what you’re doing; I wonder if you can recognize how others might reasonably see it that way nonetheless).
What you failed to address in my previous comment, however, is what I think was most important: the two numbered statements near the end. Perhaps if you want some engagement, you might try responding to those. I think they’re on point, and seriously call into question some of your apparent assumptions, particularly that one must be able to offer a solution in order to have the right to criticize a flawed one proposed by others. With that logic, if someone has a pseudo-solution (i.e., a fraudulent “cure”) for cancer, I must have a real cure in order to suggest that the person in question is a charlatan. It would be tragic for medicine if that were the standard for offering criticism.
Michael Paul Goldenberg
I asked a question. I asked Diane. She is a self acknowledged
expert on public education. I acknowledge she knows much more than
I do.
I have no solutions, but ask acknowledged (even self acknowledge) experts
for their recommendation. Diane complains about all people who think public
education has failed and people who don’t like teacher’s unions.
I complain about liberal bias in public education and
colleges. Neither of us has proposed (that I know of) any universally acknowledged
improvements to public education.
Diane has stated that the most important
issue in education is parent involvement. I AGREE WITH THAT STATEMENT
100%. In fact, from my experience in public schools, that is the major issue that
is not addressed by progressives, liberals or governments.
Dear Diane,
How should America improve public education?
That, my friend is my only real question.
Sir, that is, Egbegb, read my next book.
Call Michelle…she will tell you how to get results.
if you want a blog to discover strategies and theory to be a better educator diane’s isn’t really the one…although I very much agree with her anti-privatization agenda and its importance can not be underestimated. i’m not an educator…yet..just an undergraduate student..but I read a lot about radical educational theory and critical pedagogy…perhaps connecting the lived experience of these kids to the content matter would be a better way for students to learn in your classroom…i’m interested, being an educator, how does theory inform your practice?
Reflective Thinking
Why do you agree with her dislike for privatization?
I neither understand Diane’s dislike or your agreement.
Once again, I ask a question.
Why is privatization bad?
well one it hasn’t worked…and the complications of having a school run like like a private corporation that has its main motive as profit and not teaching and learning has been born out in practice for the last decade…if you want me to list all the complications and terrible results for students its produced I could? charter schools haven’t done any better than they’re public counterparts…school closings like the recent one in Chicago disrupting whole communities and leaving whole urban neighborhoods feeling like they don’t matter…cheating scandals like the one in Atlanta…obsession with standardized testing that are being used as the sole evaluator in firing teachers and closing schools when even the creators acknowledge that they were never intended to be used for this purpose… where numerous studies have shown to be flawed…the instrumentalization and dumbing down of curriculums all across this nation…the deskilling of teachers…having curriculums imposed on them from far away by bureaucrats who have no idea about the needs of their students….ii could get way more specific if you want me to? ts not about ideology…its about evidence…and once you see that something isn’t working, you just stop doing it…I agree that there were problems with our educational system before this whole faux reform movement was started by politicians on both sides of the political spectrum but the solution clearly has not been to change the system from public to private. i believe it involves making our teacher education programs more rigorous, emphasizing the study of how theory informs methods in teacher education and various other real reforms….education is a vital democratic public sphere from higher education all the way down to middle school and elementary schools…diane’s blog isn’t about demonization and its not about ideological stubborness as you see it…its about amassing a mass movement of teachers, students, and parents who recognize the problem of the ongoing privatization and corporatization of education and want to stop it so real reform can be discussed and debated within the teaching profession not from the outside by politicians like Michelle Rhee and billionare reformers like bill gates who really have proven that they have no idea what they’re talking about when it comes to improving education in this country. again, if you want me to list the reasons and evidence for why they have no idea what they’re talking about, I could? how about we start with your reasons for agreeing with privatization?
Why is privatization bad? Read my next book.
It facilitates graft, fraud, corruption and theft of the common good.
the reason I asked you if you knew about critical pedagogy and radical educational theory is to start a discussion on how to improve PUBLIC education without having to talk about privatization and talk about what actually goes on inside the classroom. but nonetheless I still recognize that this movement is the first big step towards improving public education, and you see it gaining traction all over this nation. this is not about conservative or liberal or progressive…cause it turns out both conservatives and liberals have been in on this privatization movement. so if we could just throw away the labels and have an intellectual discussion, that would be nice, don’t you think?
for one thing instead of looking at the best practices inside the classrooms of great charters, of which there are a few but very few,and incorporating that into the public debate about how to improve public schools policymakers are just closing them down and replacing them with ever more charters, which doesn’t really make any sense.
LOL.
“Can she also expound on the results of the policies she dislikes in those two states?”
Yeah, I remember using words like “expound” as a first-year undergraduate. I thought it made me sound quite intelligent and “probing”…snicker…(How old are you anyway?)
Duh. Maybe if you could find the time to take “Internet 101” you might understand how you could find numerous postings and links provided by Ms. Ravitch, where she does indeed “expound” on why these particular state systems are horrific and damaging to our children and to the very idea of public education.
Try this, for starters: https://dianeravitch.net/category/florida/ (12 pages, in total, of multiple, in-depth postings and links on Florida and “the results of the policies she dislikes” in that state.)
Then move on to this one: https://dianeravitch.net/category/louisiana/ (17 pages, in total, of multiple, in-depth postings and links on Louisiana and “the results of the policies she dislikes” in that state.)
And if you’re so inclined, you can read more about the egregious and corrupt enterprise being run by Governor Jindal and his “Education” Secretary, John White, and how they’re handing out education tax dollars to almost anyone claiming to be a “school operator” or teacher, either here: http://louisianavoice.com/category/education/
OR here: http://crazycrawfish.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/has-john-white-lied-to-bese-and-the-state-of-louisiana-or-is-inbloom-lying/
Want more?
“Is there a profoundly excellent solution to the Education
issue in America that Diane supports?”
“I have no solutions.”
Whew…where do we start with someone who can say both of these things with a straight face?
I’ll give it a try, regardless of the fact that it probably won’t make much of a difference.
First, when you make astonishingly obtuse comments like “Progressives never engage in thoughtful discussion.” you immediately signal that you’re not really interested in engaging in any sort of debate.
It’s the equivalent of name-calling. Which is why I might be wasting my time here.
I tell my 8 year old that he can’t speak to people like that—even within his peer group—and expect them to respect him and take him seriously. A person poisons the atmosphere from the outset with comments of that nature.
However, to try and address your complaints, first, can you tell us which law requires a critic to “balance” their criticism by finding something “positive” to say in the same piece?
Is Ms. Ravitch allowed to criticize those states with terrible education policies, or MUST she find “something” about them to praise?
If you did a bit more homework before shooting off in yes, Trollish Fashion, you’d quickly find out that Diane Ravitch has written volumes on what she believes DOES work for K-12 education and that she offers VERY specific policy proposals.
What you call “education reform” is largely tripe. It’s a nice-sounding cover for a agenda that is all about steering public funds—our education tax dollars—into the bank accounts of private, for-profit businesses; and their bottom line is very different from an educators.
I’m not a teacher either. No one in my immediate or extended family is either. I own a small business. And I know that when you own a private business, all that counts is the money. Nothing wrong with that; it’s just a fact. I’m not in business for fun or diversion. It’s how I pay the bills and support my family.
And, there are only TWO ways to make money in business: 1) Increase Revenues and 2) Cut Costs. If you know of some other way, please let all of us—especially me—know.
When a private concern takes control of a school, they need to “make money”; simply operating the school to meet the needs of all concerned—students, parents, taxpayers, teachers and staff—isn’t enough. There are investors and executives who need to be fed. A lot.
So, as has already happened in many districts around the nation, the private company that took over the school or schools begins to look for ways to raise revenues. That’s tough.
They then turn their attention to cutting costs. That’s when they realize that teachers are “overhead”. Books and school supplies are “overhead”. The school building itself is “overhead”. And yes, the students themselves are “overhead”.
And then they do what any good and effective CFO does; they CUT “overhead”. Thus the new popularity and hyperbole surrounding “virtual schools” and “young (temporary/non-union) “teachers”.
They HAVE to make a profit. Why would you expect them to operate otherwise? The real goal of “Education Reform” is “Takeover and Privatization”.
Here’s just one of many examples. More available upon request:
http://www.pressherald.com/news/virtual-schools-in-maine_2012-09-02.html
Don’t you know this? If not, why not?
egbegb,
Let me just remind you of a few of your comments that are not terribly conducive to pleasant conversation: “Progressives never engage in thoughtful discussion.” “All I have learned so far is your hate for any form of reform.” “She is a self-acknowledged expert on public education.” “I have no solutions, but ask acknowledged (even self acknowledged) experts for their recommendation.”
These are just examples of your comments that appear to be intended to shut down any desire to dialogue with you. I didn’t even include those comments that that came across as sarcastic. Can you really not figure out why you are not greeted with open arms?
You love those kids you are tutoring and are angered that there are kids graduating from high school without even the most basic of skills. From all of the research, we know that there are socioeconomic factors that have a much greater impact on these kids than in-school factors. These are societal issues that cannot be solved by schools alone. Diane writes in light of her nationally recognized expertize as an educational historian. I don’t believe she has ever claimed to have all the answers to the problems of schools in lower socioeconomic communities that have predominantly under-resourced schools. She has advocated for a public school system that welcomes all children. I understand your frustration when you see your kids struggling. I felt the same way and was not a fan of the entrenched, cronyism of that district, but I see no private system that has shown interest in serving those hard to serve children.
2old2tch: thank you for being so polite, on task, and saving me the time and effort to say the same things.
“None so deaf as those that will not hear. None so blind as those that will not see.” [Matthew Henry]
The comments you refer to are possible only if one rarely visits this website and skims and/or skips the sometimes extensive commentary.
It is a willful refusal to engage in either informing oneself and being open to other POVs.
I read all your postings. Please continue to share your opinions with us.
🙂
Great response! Thank you.
Diane, along this same line, I wondered what you thought about this report – Digital Learning Now – http://www.digitallearningnow.com/ – which claims to rate the quality of online content available to students state by state, but when you go to look at the “metrics” for measuring quality of content, it is about being aligned to Common Core standards – as if standards alignment now was equal to quality content!
http://www.digitallearningnow.com/10elements/quality-content/
I teach online (college), and I care very much about quality of online content and open educational resources, and I was very depressed to see that now all anybody apparently has to do is align with the standards and – presto! – you have quality (supposedly).
The website says Digital Learning Now! is a program operated by the Foundation for Excellence in Education – it’s all very slick and glossy. Wikipedia tells me the Foundation is chaired by Jeb Bush. Sigh…
Thanks so much for all you are doing with this blog to question the whole Common Core juggernaut. I really appreciate your efforts! (I’m a college writing teacher deeply dismayed about Common Core and the new avalanche of testing to come, now with … robograding. Ugh.)
The Digital Learning Now document comes mostly from Jeb Bush. It was sponsored by vendors of high-tech goods. There is not a shred of evidence behind any of its claims. It is a slick sales pitch for getting rid of teachers and replacing them with technology. Nothing more.
Since it was far slicker than most, I had to dig around to see just what it was really about – it got shared at my school as a legit evaluation, sad to say. Argh!
Thanks again for all your good work with this blog!
You know, there are the simpletons who believe what they see with NO filter of reality to “fact check.” the sophistry when they see or hear it. Then there are those who have a psychological axe to grind, like the populace that rant and rave about “bad teachers” and cheer charter schools with little to no reason why, other than their puny excuse based on one bad teacher they may have encountered growing up. Next, we have the “don’t confuse me with facts” willfully ignorant. Putty in the paws of the sneering elitists who use all of the above to fleece the public and laugh all the way to their Caymen Island tax shelters. It’s rather all like watching a very bad rerun. Same ruses up the rusty flag pole with ever declining rationales to support their covert goals.
Now, sadly, they’re not so covert, but they rather brazenly extol their two class construct of the upper class and the rest of the country who are plummeting into the lower class. The media anesthetizes the populace to accept their ever dwindling Constitutional rights, trumped by the cry of “security.” It all seems so rigged, gamed and grim.
So much for my “howling at the moon!” Then there’s Diane and intelligent exchanges on this blog. When’s the book out, Diane? Can’t wait!