A reader posted this comment:
“Listening to President Obama’s speech about Trayvon Martin in which he said regarding young black men,”And is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them?” the thought struck me:
“How about not closing their schools and undermining their neighborhoods; how about providing them with an education like the one you want for your children; how about trying to do something about the poverty that they endure? How about standing with the people who helped to elect you with their votes and their belief in you rather than with the 1% whom you seem now to identify with in deeds if not in words.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Amen. According to conservatives the President statement was reprehensible. What kind of country is this that claims to be all about family and be willing to throw away children? What a disgrace.
Liar, liar, house on fire.
Obammer is a traitorous coward who is in it for himself. He is a HYPOCRITE to the MAX. He ain’t no Hawaiian. He is a white boy raised by white folks and is ENTITLED. He never earned a thing in his life.
I couldn’t even watch. I felt sick listening to his hypocrisy. I had to turn off the news.
How can he not see it? I am so disgusted right now.
Copy that, Linda. I did the same.
Copy 2
Obummer is MOST disgusting. He is a fascist.
Me too.
Then help him and help Arne and Rahm and all the others “see it!” Maybe this will be the President’s wake up call to be their wake up call that they are going about it the wrong way. Maybe this will help them all see that their reforms are surface quick fixes that don’t work and they’ll get to the root problems that take some courage.
They all think that their charter schools, vouchers, reconstituted schools, narrow curriculum, standardized testing, the basics and on and on are the answers AND they have convinced themselves that this is their civil rights movement…. when really, all they are doing is oppressing kids where the only successes those schools can tout is high attendance and good behavior – in other words – controlling kids (walking in straight lines, wearing uniforms, memorizing basics, and learning compliance).
However – how many Americans have any clue about the context the President explained? Certainly not the people who are trying to reform schools.
Sure, they watched all the right tv movies and cried at the right times – some got motivated and signed up for teach for awhile or tried to open a school – and the corporate folks sleep better because they are throwing money at the problem (but in all the wrong places). But do THEY really get it?
No – but what they don’t get isn’t only about education. They see schools where kids are failing and think that closing them and creating factories of learning is the answer. Why?
Because they don’t get what the President was talking about. So they look for and fund answers in all the wrong places. Have they looked at the root causes of school failure? No. They want quick fixes because they don’t see the root causes or choose to put their head in the sand and ignore them.
But, how many Presidents have stood up and tried to help America have any sense about what he said? How many Americans understood the “clicks” he described or why every parent of a young man of color teaches their sons about “10 and 2” when stopped by a police officer?
Schools that do understand what he said have worked diligently at detracking, at opening the doors of AP courses, creating pipelines and cohorts to graduation, at accelerated learning in mathematics instead of remediation, at getting parents in schools, establishing summer readiness programs so kids hit the ground running in September, working with programs like Upward Bound, adding music and the arts, working with community agencies, establishing home visit programs, putting Parents as Teachers and other early childhood programs in place…etc. … etc…. and, those schools confront their own historical versions of “stand your ground.”
Maybe if the reformers had a clue about what the President talked about – and let’s face it – he’s walking on egg shells when talking about race – they’d start realizing that their efforts are the real hypocrisy. So if the President doesn’t get it, help him understand it.
“Maybe this will be the President’s wake up call. . . . ”
There’s that hopey thingy again. But I guess it’s good for all to dream. Actions speak louder than words I believe the saying goes.
Over 6,000 people sent in 400+ letters last year to help Obama “see it”. Plenty of other people have tried in innumerable ways to reach out to him. Short of setting ourselves on fire on the White House lawn, how much more can we do? Maybe he just doesn’t want to see it.
Yes, and there is a very good reason why he will not listen and he does not care, despite his once flowery language, he is a part of the cabal.
Read here….for someone who voted for him once, this was extremely disheartening.
I don’t believe anything he says now. His girls are safe.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/a-closer-look-at-the-joyce-foundation-shows-obamas-ties-to-chicago-school-privatizations/164972/
Linda…thanks for this link. It is one of the most important reports I have read anywhere and the workings of the Joyce Foundation should be a blog issue in itself. It is so clear that the combination of the Chicago school closings, and the concurrent charter intrusions, with the real, trained-teacher firings, and the placement in all the new schools of TFA “scabs” working at poverty level wages, is all about money.
I wonder how soon they will be hiring folks in Indonesia and India to do online teaching to our students, who will work for $2 an hour? They probably can beat the price paid to TFA kids.
The Arne Duncan quotes in free market language says it all. How destructive.
I recently was in contact with a wealthy Board member of a selective organization in LA about having a counter speaker to Michelle Rhee, our own Diane Ravitch, present on privatization issues. He tersely replied that charters will save education and that I, an educator of over 40 years, do not know what I am talking about. My gut led me to google him and I found that he now owns a charter school.
The education issues are causing even more cleaving or our social fabric between the very rich seeking to be even richer by raping education, and those others of us, example all of us on this blog, who have dedicated our lives to free universal education.
Please everyone, read Linda’s link to learn more about Obama/Duncan and their ties to the uber rich.
Obummer thinks he is King George of England of England who we fought for independence from. And here we are with King Obummer, a traitorous coward.
I just finished watching Bill Maher, who had Grover Norquist as a guest. Norquist had the gall to use education reform in New Orleans, Indiana and elsewhere as evidence that Republicans do care about the problems racial minorities face in our country. He brought this up during the Trayvon Martin discussion, saying that giving parents in poor neighborhoods a “choice” has been good for these communities. I have to thank you, Diane, because before I started reading your books and following your blog, I might have been deluded and thought, “huh, that is interesting.” Now I know better. Now I know, after reading about the closing of schools, the lack of evidence supporting the claims that these corporate-backed reformers make regarding test scores etc. and the harm that turn around schools have on their communities, that what he said is total B.S. I wish the rest of the country also knew, but the message is slowly but surely getting out.
Reg,
The whole country will begin to understand the scam. It is happening.
Did Bill Maher challenge Norquist at all? I wouldn’t expect it since Maher bought the “Waiting For Superman” propaganda hook, line and sinker.
However, Maher gave both Michelle Rhee and that mediocre musician—John something or other who went to an Ivy League school (so he MUST know what he’s talking about!)—a true “run for their money”. So I hope he challenged that sociopath, Norquist, at least a bit on his vile attempt to spin the destruction of public education in the black community with “helping them by offering choice.”
How absolutely disgusting. The man knows no limits in his passion for the destruction of the public good. Norquist is truly sick.
But here’s the good news about the sick words and actions of Norquist.
Norquist is well-known as a vicious, ultra right extremist: a tea party mentality before such a thing existed.
When the rank and file of the Democratic Party learn that George W and Jeb Bush and now Norquist is backing so called “education reform” and “choice”, it will only strengthen the public awareness of this fraud AND accelerate the decline and fall of this attempt to phase out public education.
Now…watch the people in that ersatz group, “Democrats” for Education Reform, and their poster child, Corey Booker attempt to rationalIze and “clarify” all of this.
But it won’t wash, Whitney Tilson. It just won’t wash.
Please add to the mix that Dick Armey and his Norquist-beloved FreedomWorks which invented the Tea Party, is a major funder of Rheeform and parent trigger laws, along with the Waltons, and Heartland Institute (more Norquist believers who also foster teaching creationism), and they are pushing for this legislation nationwide.
It is only by publishing all our combined information that the public will begin to understand how we have all been fleeced by corporate America. No good to only preach to our choir…but letter writing, public speaking, op-ed articles, all need to be directed to the greater audience.
As someone here said, he only learned about all this by reading Diane’s books, so give them as gifts to libraries and schools. Shout out about it all. If you want info about how to make your voice heard please join with us at
Joining Forced for Education
joingforces4ed@aol.com
Reg, I completely agree with you but I don’t know how well the word is getting out. People are still buying what people like Norquist says. Steve Van Andel, Amway corporation, said in a guest commentary in the local paper that free enterprise is what makes this country work.
People believe him. That is what has gone wrong in this country. To start with, slavery, that was free enterprise. Students, are getting strangled in debt, that is free enterprise. Hungry unemployed people, free enterprise. Of course all these people are the ones paying taxes for the roads that the Amway trucks drive on. Amway gets millions of dollars in tax breaks. People think Van Andel is a hero. DeVos, his partner at Amway sent $1.5 mil to Wisconsin to to support Scott Walker. $2. mil to support the Right-to-Work initiative here in MI that lost at the polls but was overturned by Gov. Snyder. And, believe it or not, Snyder could get re-elected. I don’t really know how many people are really paying attention to these things. Detroit, having gone bankrupt, does not have to pay on pensions of the city’s Union members. Snyder does it again! The momentum in this country is to kill Unions in the name of free enterprise!
I agree it is slow and frustrating. There is almost never anything about all of this in the local paper or national news, and when there is, it is skewed towards the Rheeformers etc. We have an organization here in Nevada whose primary mission seems to be to dismantle our union, and the paper takes what they say as gospel. Our state did defeat an effort to fund TFA here, although the district may pay for them itself, but slowly and surely, my state is following through with all of the initiatives that are proving destructive to public education: turn around schools, lack of respect for teaching as a profession, school ratings that have more to do with income of families than quality of teachers, favoring magnet and charter schools over neighborhood schools, etc. When I mention in my building what happened in Oregon over MAP testing, for example, no one knows what I am talking about. We are all so overworked, even educators are not paying close enough attention.
Isn’t that why NCLB came about anyway–it was Republicans wanting to put their stamp on education and show that they could and would?
To me the whole thing is like trying to keep babies from crying. Imagine national legislation to keep babies from crying. Then if they still cry, blame all the pediatricians who were unable to keep them from crying. Parents, stand united against pediatricians–your baby shouldn’t cry. Your pediatricians have failed you. Then quickly those who passed the legislation start coming up with ways to force babies to not cry.
Babies cry. They always will. To try and stop that means to stop them from letting us know what they need.
Children sometimes struggle when they are learning–isn’t that how we know where they need help, individually?
Changing trajectories is an admirable goal–but it is ridiculous to think that schools could ever do that on their own. Or that they should.
To me it is as ridiculous as if the entire nation were in the state it is in over education as it would be if we were trying to keep babies from crying.
We respond to the cries of babies. We know what they need because they cry.
Measuring babies’ cries and how well people keep them from crying is what is going on. “In 2014, no babies will cry!” How crazy is that?
This is all crazy.
Maybe Dems in 2002 just went along with NCLB because otherwise they would look like they were either being uncooperative, or it was a way to not let Republicans get the credit when babies finally stop crying.
Perhaps the goal of education has been misguided for a long time. If we look at it in terms of not assigning unrealistic and ridiculous outcomes (like babies not crying), then maybe some real answers, real objectives and shaping can begin to occur.
I am so disappointed that it is questionable whether a public school can have a realistic expectation for my child. And that if there ever were realistic expectations (and I think there were when I came along in public school) that those have been manipulated and propagandized for political and financial gain.
Good parents and caregivers know that babies cry. Good citizens should know that schools need realistic expectations, and thAt they cannot,nor should they be expected to, end poverty on their own.
Thank goodness babies cry. How does that fit into national security?
I love your babies crying analogy. They will get even louder when SBAC testing begins. The samples I have seen for ELA 9 and 11 are tough, partly because the multiple choice questions are poorly written, and partly because some of the text analysis/essay prompts are like AP exams, which are called “advanced” for a reason. Our ELL students don’t have a chance. Totally unrealistic.
The “stop babies from crying” analogy is outstanding. Bravo!
I have become so disillusioned with Obama and his rhetoric. How many more Trayvon’s will it take for government to understand that the problem is not in the child but what opportunities that child is able to ascertain in order to reach and fulfill their potential.
Reblogged this on inspirEDucation and commented:
Just got back from Hawaii and i just needed to reblog this. So on point.
When I listened to President Obama’s speech
I didn’t hear him mention educators or education
at all. He talked about many others who could
help better the racial situation in our country.
Why do you think he skipped a most obvious
solution? Are teachers not on his radar?
I just got home from being interviewed on a panel for KPFK by John Crowshow of the show Politics or Pedagogy?….it can be streamed if anyone wishes to hear it.
The panel consisted of a great group educators including Dr. Stephen Krashan, emeritus USC education, Cheryl Ortega who taught Early Childhood Ed for 43 years and is still ‘subbing’ and is active with UTLA, and Richard Moore, a high school science/math teacher also active with committees and the union. With creative dedicated teachers like these we are safe to turn out great students.
We spoke about all the above issues, and many others including Parent Revolution and the dangers of the parent trigger, Common Core (but not enough), technology vs. in the flesh teachers, etc.
Too little time to hit all the issues we discuss here, but at least it did scratch the surface. But the issues in America of poverty and race are the key to why inner city children need our focus.
Trayvon had parents who love him and were able to watch over him, but that seems not to be enough in a racist society that is quick to profile young men of color. I read this week that the Walton Family Foundation, the main funders of the Parent Revolution and Ben Austin, also are major funders of Stand Your Ground laws nationwide (now in 24 states), so that casual murderers can shoot first and cry wolf later. Where does Florida find so many ignorant bigots for a jury?. Could they be charter school products? Or friends of Pitbull who is opening charters as fast as he can? And then there are the billionaire Waltons whose daddy left them Midas rich, worthless, stupid, and heartless.
Oh beautiful for spacious skies….we crown thy good with brotherhood…. but only if you are white.
KPFK 90.7 AM.
Did you even watch the trial?
This was not a racial case until the media made it just that,
NBC is being sued because of the tape edit that started this whole race case in the first place.
Not Guilty was the correct verdict
Ellen,
Thank you for the info. regarding Ben Austin and his support of stand your ground laws. More people need to know about this. It gives the ‘parent trigger’ law a whole new meaning!
Dear LA Teacher,
I must just add to your thanks for my post, that I did not say Ben Austin, for all his flaws, was part of Stand Your Ground.
It is the multi billionaire Walton Family Foundation that I read has been a major funder for that horrific law.
Or, GJ, as many fear, are teachers actually in his crosshairs?
Jere & gj (&–gj–haven’t seen you comment on this blog before–welcome to our discourse!)–please read many other posts as to the subject of Obama & Arne & others on Diane’s blog, as well as other blogs (The Answer Sheet, NYC Educator, Fred Klonsky’s Blog, The Network for Public Education). Sorry–they don’t WANT to “get it.”
It’s all about the $$$ (see an earlier post on the Joyce Foundation). However, as Diane responded above, “The whole country will begin to understand the scam. It is happening.” In other words, guys–it is US. WE are the ones who must change things.
STOP.TALKING.ABOUT.OBAMA.AND.ARNE!!! GO to rallies (there was just one in NYC).
Anyone in Chicago–ALEC is celebrating their 40th year (of national destruction!) at the Palmer House Hilton. Chicagoans are holding a MASSIVE protest on August 8th at 12 NOON. WE’LL BE THERE, no matter how hot it is that day! Be like L.A.–get pro-public schools Board members elected. Help elect/work for pro-public school candidates–if you’d be good, YOU run!!! Think nationally, act locally–as Diane said, IT WILL SPREAD.
Because–yes, WE can! And WE WILL!!
I agree wholeheartedly! Just do it and stop with the “woe is us” bit, however understandable the emotion behind it.
Here in Washington State we’re fighting back on several fronts. One is by supporting the candidacy of Sue Peters, a founding member of Parents Across America, Stanford educated journalist, mother of two public school children, and one of the most promising candidates to ever run for the Seattle school board.
Her opponent has garnered the full support and blank checks of the “Privatizer Elite”, who are planning a full scale propaganda blitz on her behalf.
Sue Peters needs your help. Her fight is everyone’s fight. Her opposition has been actively rainga
You can learn more about Sue Peters and her campaign by going to her website: suepeters4school1
Sorry. Those final paragraphs should have read:
Sue Peters needs your help. Her fight is everyone’s fight. Her opposition has been actively raising money all over the country from the predictable sources.
We need to counter that effort by reaching out to our allies around the country as well. Please help in any way you can.
You can learn more about Sue Peters and her campaign by going to her website: http://suepeters4schoolboard.org
uget,
Please post more about Sue Peters and where to send a donation. It worked when Monica Ratliff ran and our wonderful academic community all over the US sent her small amounts. Monica only raised about $145,000 against the $2M of Sanchez, but she won.
Thanks Puget…just made my small donation. Very easy to click on your link to Sue Peters, and use paypal for give some fuel for her tough fight.
Many members of my group of Joining Forces are also joining with her Parents Across America. In unity there is strength.
Wonderful news, Puget Sound Parent! Will be going to the Sue Peters website to find out where/how to donate!
Big hugs ‘retired’ for holding up LA as an exemplar to follow. We worked our butts off the get Monica Ratliff and Steve Zimmer against the billions of dollars of outside cash flowing to candidates who would have supported the privatizers…but was also got lucky. Cannot rest on any laurels, but must admit, it is nice to hear this from our colleagues.
I will never stop referring to your untiring work in LA, which is an inspiration to everyone! Thanks for the hugs and thanks for the outstanding example of never giving up!
meant get them elected…too tired to type.
If he were that man, he wouldn’t be president.
One needs to understand before educating our children in schools, with teachers who may hide some racial hatred underneath. We first must do soul searching as President Obama has said. I am a white woman who lived in an African American community or projects while growing up. We were the few who knew and understood deeply about the racial bigotry, hate speech and slurs on any given day. Because our family has some very well educated, law abiding friends who are African American. Some of us would get the same reactions as if we had this same beautiful mocha skin.
President Obama doesn’t need to *satisfy* the hunger of hatred by the GOP or tea Party fanatics with their cult beliefs. How sad that a young man of 17, with a grade point average of 3.75 in school, loved to ride horses and hangout with his friends learning music. Can be shot down and justice for the criminal who did it, goes free!
Now, he is in heaven with the angels. Zimmerman and the jurors are hiding because of the truth, they don’t want to accept. They are cowards and racists. The six jurors who couldn’t see this was a human being who had his whole life in front of him. What they saw was some dark skinned young kid who was seen in altered photos doing the *stereotypical* things of any teenager.
Zimmerman should have been found guilty of manslaughter. He was a want to be cop who failed his exam.He went out that night upset, looking for trouble. He wanted to be a hero. What better way than to use something of a break in at a home in the area, to use as an excuse. He was premeditated by taking his gun out with him, that night. The dispatch told him, “Stay away, we will handle it”.
Zimmerman pursued. This is stalking! The stand your ground is a bunch of bull and it’s the coward’s who believe in this, cling to this, and are the ones who fear about something they impose on others. Especially in the African-American communities. When we do soul searching, put your faces on the Martin family.
Let the death of an innocent 17 yr old be the face of your son, nephew, and friend. Then repeat until you can see how everything Pres Obama was trying to express, is in fact the truth!
How long have you been teaching?
What difference does it make how long she has beeen teaching?
That Obama made a statement at all surprised me. As a politician, he’s trying to have it both ways. How sad to be the first black President and be afraid to discuss racism and our flawed criminal justice system. But why be the President if you can’t effect a change of attitude like race relations. That should also be a part of the conversation.
To leave a legacy that consists of breaking up publis education and ignoring issues of equality and race is pretty bad. It was federal activism that championed most civil rights issues the states refused to touch. we need that type of activism regarding public education. Not supporting the corporations and privateers who seek to destroy us but the people who elected these politicians who forget who they work for, supposedly. If this is a sign that Obama is getting active on these issues, great! If its just to placate the people and get them ready for the Feds doing nothing regarding Trayvon and the unjust laws like stand your ground, more of the same will continue.
Colleagues and friends, please recognize the impact of the president’s words beyond our somewhat (ever-so-understandably) jaded ears. Oh yes, we teachers — and parents — and our children — live daily the impact his administration’s (and buddies’) policies have had that HURT our black youth, including the boys he calls on his listeners to care about. And of course, “actions speak louder than words.” Every day we try to help our children, and our colleagues and sisters and brothers, survive the ever-worsening scene of what’s left in our battered public schools, including and especially in Chicago where the president, and his friends, began and now horridly lead the assault on public schools — including the massive job-termination notices that paralleled the president’s talk on Trayvon Martin. We know this, we live it, and we have it in the front of our minds as we listen to and try to make our way through the president’s talk of caring for the same children his policies (not just on education!) are so hurting.
BUT beyond our own immediate circles, and even there, among teaching colleagues who don’t get the big picture the way we do, these words are important. He has given us some openings, hasn’t he? I woke up this morning with a letter being drafted in my head, to him, about Chicago and the schools situation, starting with an acknowledgement of the importance of his call for attention to the plight of our black youth. I was drafting the letter not because I thought he would read it, but more as a way to begin a discussion with my middle-school students when they return to school, and, right now, with colleagues who don’t see Trayvon Martin’s murder and Zimmerman’s acquittal as “educational issues,” and with neighbors and community members whom I am working to get involved in our fight here in Pittsburgh for our schools (including why they should come to hear Diane Ravitch speak in Pittsburgh on September 16).
In other words, we don’t have to take the president at his words. But I think we CAN use his words to begin different kinds of conversations than we might otherwise have. And I suspect that we just might see a few more people join us at today’s Trayvon Martin events around the country, including here in Pittsburgh, because of what he said yesterday. And this is good.
Thanks Kipp and John to remind us that this can be a huge teachable moment. So much of Trayvon and Barak, and the history of America. Plus the economics of the inner cities, poverty, modern robber barons, etc., de facto and de jure legal adjudication. This is an opportunity for endless creative teaching. Super comments you made.
Yes! Teachers can also help by listening.
The President’s statement prompted this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-thompson/lets-show-respect-for-inner-city-students_b_3468595.html
I didn’t use the words “Common Core” because I was aiming differently. When talking race, we’re all like the blind man “seeing” a part of the elephant. Rather than blast each other, perhaps we should all contribute a piece of what we see.
Great article, John! I’m sharing, and urge others to read and share.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/I-Teach-a-Person-394307
obama – comparing Trayvon to himself – could of been me 35 years ago, really was Obama getting in trouble assaulting beating people up in his youth, or was he inferring that being a young aspiring future politician, Trayvon could have behaved more like him, not getting in trouble, assaulting, beating someone up?
forget race, if someone of any race knocked you down was on top of you beating you senseless, would you just lay there getting killed hoping they’d stop or someone would help, or would you defend yourself however you could?
Taking a page from David Sirota’s playbook, I see…
SMH.
Hurrah to this post!!! Yes. Yes. Yes.
FIrst Obama and Jimmy Carter were overlapping in that their statements that the law had been followed in the judicial process in the Trayvon Martin case.
Now, Obama is reflecting upon pain and hardships “people of color” face, which I think is a very harsh realtiy still, as the president stated. But it’s only NOW that the President is stating this in his analysis of the motivations behind TM’s and GZ’s behavior.
And it’s only now that Carter is saying how we are no longer a democracy and that he defends Snowden. Although he came out with a book not so long ago that stated the same thing and why.
Flip flopping or just human analysis? Truth telling or pol-i-tricking?
EIther way, Obama is a sheer disgrace, a liar, a hypocrite, an opportunist, and a horrible, disgusting figurehead who plays the people’s emotions (and the people in general are not that astute in this regard, having fallen for him as I did) like Itzhak Perlman does the violin, like Olivier did as King Lear on stage.
Obama mesmurizes, charms, and consoles on camera and then goes back to the oval office to backstab with remote and politicized control. He is one of the prime masterminds at doing this.
I am sorry I voted for him the first term.
HIs hubris and bad karma accumulate simultaneously . . . .
And speaking of the President’s hypocrisy, indifference to children in public schools, and corporate bent, I urge ALL readers to read this brilliant, hit-the-nail-on-the head article by the right-to-the-point journalist Chris Hedges, who connects all the dots of both parties how and why we are where we are.
PLEASE give it a try!!!!!!!:
http://www.truth-out.org/video/item/17674-chris-hedges-america-is-a-tinderbox-part-4
According to a recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the percent of children living in poverty DOUBLED from 2006 to 2010, from 11% to 29%. The percent of African-American children living in poverty increased from 27% to 45% in the same time period.
45% of all black children in the United States are living in families with income below the poverty threshold.
No prob. Here’s the solution: test them and fail them more.
Here’s the Annie E. Casey Foundation report:
Click to access KIDSCOUNTDataSnapshot_HighPovertyCommunities.pdf
Standardized testing clearly makes the problem worse. It did under NCLB, when the standardized tests were imposed by the states. It will under the new national standardized testing regimen.
Robert Rendo and Robert Shepherd….thanks so much for your links. The Chris Hedges interview, as usual, is right on target about poverty in America and the outcomes. And the follow up with the Annie Casey statement ( they are the foundation that supports with grant funding public school education), which delineates formally the results of poverty, are an imperative read for all of the community.
Diane, today is one more illustration of how collaboration brought about by your fulcrum blog site is vital for America’s educators and the general community. Thank you again for keeping us moving forward.
These comments seem to fall in two categories:
1) Appreciation for the President’s public and risky wake-up call, awareness raising, and exposition of the subtle and frequent institutional profiling and quiet racism that exists in America.
2) The hypocrisy that the President did not connect the incident to speak out against closing inner city schools, his support for charter schools, corporate ventures, and financial incentives whose focus seems to be on controlling student behavior, excessive testing, and regurgitation of facts in the name of modern day civil rights.
Those who start with the former stance applaud the remarks, respect the fragility of an African-American President speaking about race, and get that his daily to-do list includes terrorism, the economy, health care, atrocities in other nations, privacy issues, and a just-say-no Congress, so that education (which is not in the Constitution) doesn’t get much attention.
Those who start with the latter stance are understandably focused on the continued inequities of public education; the President’s silence on excessive testing, corporate influences, and school closings; and the kool-aid he’s drunk on charter schools, voucher plans, and Superman/Lone Ranger reform.
Coming from the former perspective, I wish that when he does speak on issues of race, or for that matter health care and the economy, he would connect the dots that the answers to all of the above is quality public education for all and that his reform agenda is being influenced and run by quick fix, corporate influenced, out-of-touch reformers.
It seems to me those starting with the hypocrisy stance skimmed right over that the speech was a first from the White House (at least since 1965) and that it actually exposes the root cause of the educational mess we are in.
Still the optimist, I hope now that he has opened the door to those “courageous conversations” espousing that they will influence local and state regulations on many issues (like “stand your ground,” which by the way describes a lot of schools), that he will use it as a means to break his silence on educational reform policies and actions that are oppressive, do not work, fill corporate coffers, and look far different than what he wrote about in education reform in 2008.
Jere, we’ve seen a LOT more than just “silence” from the President on education. He is very much a promoter of charter schools and of this standards, testing, and evaluation regime. The new ESEA, which is NCLB on steroids, is HIS bill. A lot of us are sick of seeing this president out Bush Bush.
That’s correct, but not for Sasha and Malia.
Well-stated–especially like your last sentence.
My comment below was to Robert’s “…out Bush Bush.”
I was one of those who could not watch the speech. I asked my husband if he would mind me fast forwarding through the news segment covering it.
My reasons are many.
Of course there is Race to the Top
There is also the record of words spoken by the president and his wife to historically black colleges– commencement speeches that invoked some of the worst racial stereotyping. He did the same addressing the congressional black caucus.
His administration has been loathe to go after the banks. The black community was hit especially hard by the bursting of the housing bubble. And the evidence shows that the worst and most abusive predatory lending practices hit the black community particularly hard. Communities have been destroyed.
The administration has little to say about our shameful incarceration rate.
And finally, what moral authority does Eric Holder or Obama have to speak out about racial profiling when we authorize “signature strikes” in foreign countries?
We look to our politicians for wisdom and leadership.
Sadly, we have to stop looking in their direction and gather wisdom and develop leadership qualities in ourselves.
One of the best statements I have read in a long time!
Thank you, Readingexchange. Therein lies the secret. . . . The French did it and transformed their society for centuries to come.
Thank you. Each citizen must garner truth and muster the courage to strategically hurl it into the Goliath of big money and power at every opportunity.
Inspiring!
Wow.
Sadly accurate assessment.
So who would be good candidates for President in 2016? How do we get them to run if that is not something they are already considering? By the the way, I was horrified that Zimmerman was found not guilty, I was not impressed with Obama’s speech and I strongly believe that if the issue of poverty was truly dealt with, gaps in education would not exist.
Alabama…my first choice is Elizabeth Warren.
Elizabeth Warren, as well.
As to comments above–also, simply go back & read Diane’s two July 18th posts–“Following the Money Trail in Chicago,” and “President Obama and the New Elitism.” That will tell you just about everything you need to know about this president.
And–BTW–those of us in Chicago (& Illinois)–are quite aware of his tremendous amount of luck & being in the right place at the right time. His Senate run, for example, became clear sailing after two candidates dropped out due to personal “scandals.”
(That of the Republican candidate was truly ludicrous–he might have been elected, in fact. One has to wonder {hmmm…?} where the dirt came from.)
Finally, the 2008 presidential primary Edwards scandal turned out–I believe–to be greatly in Obama’s favor. I tend to believe (as do others) that, had Edwards dropped out, Clinton could have won the Democratic nomination.
I often wonder, does President Obama realize how many of his original supporters have stopped believing in him? I will always believe he was elected because of the vision of change he articulated so beautifully. I was one of many in America who viewed Obama as a man of vision and character. I believed in a more perfect America, and thought he would be the one, to inspire Americans with courage and hope.
This speech reminded me of the man who once inspired me to send checks supporting his campaign. Sadly, his policies and actions fail to match his words, and I only feel disappointment and a sense of betrayal as I listen to words our country needs. President Obama has failed to give America’s children the same respect and promise he seeks for his own children. To sell public education to corporate billionaires, and stay silent when educators and parents question and cry out to him, is just unforgiveable. His legacy will be defined by the authentic actions and policies towards children and educators, not his words, however emotional and articulate. History will one day tell his story. I pray he chooses wisely.
Thank you Diane. WHen I read Obama’s comments today, I thought exactly as you comment! IF Obama REALLY wants to show he cares, do it with ACTION and his education policy is exactly the opposite. Words are words, but ACTIONS are the real deal!
How about teaching them to have personal responsibility and to
“improvise, adapt and overcome”.
Taking from those who work for a living and giving to those who don’t
without forcing the lazy to excel, is a progressive recipe for vote buying.
Food Stamps is an excellent example.
Been there, done that and government free hand-outs suck
big time for America.
Would that apply to corporate welfare too?
Socialism for the wealthy is so much better, eh?
Government free hand outs to corporations and banks….do those suck too?
Absolutely!
We must first retract welfare for corporations.
What corporate welfare should America focus on?
If we can be specific, we can win a huge number of
people to our side. I am not an expert on
corporate welfare.
We need a list of things that all
Americans can understand.
Can you start one, please?
How come riots didn’t happen when O.J. was acquitted? The comments Obama made about this case were uncalled for.
News race-baiters
I wondered the same.
The evidence spoke loud and clear but some people do not want to hear the truth.
Turned it into a race case….
What a shame that the president did not accept the verdict of the 6 jurors.
Trayvon was looking for a house to break into
That’s an assumption. How do you know he was looking for house to break into?