From the time Michelle Rhee started her run in DC, John Merrow was there to chronicle her progress on PBS. He posted a dozen episodes of her trials and triumphs. But last year, he began to have doubts. He began to wonder how widespread the cheating was and how much she knew. He hit a stonewall.
An experienced journalist, he wrote an opinion piece reviewing his findings. But suddenly, no one cared. Despite the fact that she had appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek, the editors said she was not a big story.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
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I know how frustrated John Merrow is that he cannot get major media outlets to pick this up. Given the continued visibility of Rhee in educational issues, the falsity of her record certainly justifies coverage. Thank you Diane for using the megaphone you have to make this far more visible than John was able to do on his own.
I agree. Thanks for addressing this so quickly, Diane!
If the American press won’t print it, I think John should turn to the Brits, especially since Rhee has made a concerted effort to export her “model” to the UK.
Many of us have been frustrated by the fact that mainstream media has been reporting propaganda, shirking their investigative responsibilities and turning a blind eye to the realities of corporate education “reform.” That is a story in itself.
The Major Media Corporations are encumbered by a serious conflict of interest. They are licking their chops over the fatted calf of public education — they see it as just another form of propagandizing to be assimilated by the advertising, diversion, and infotainment industries.
She’s only a big story when she makes the privatizing billionaires look good and the teachers’ unions look bad. When it’s the opposite — I’m sorry, what did you say her name was?
Always glad to help explain these arcane points of corporate journalism.
Well, Tony Bennett’s credibility implosion might be just the “in” needed, to make a Rhee re-evaluation a timely bit of journalism, eh?
It’s important for Merrow to think about going through a back door and the dominoes may fall. How about contacting Nick Davies of the Guardian to disseminate information about how Wireless Generation owned by Rupert Murdoch and the New Teacher Project (created by Rhee) are managing George Washington Community High School in Indianapolis without disclosure? UK parents and educators and US parents and educators will have interest if they know Murdoch is taking over schools in the US. He tried a similar scheme in the UK and was shut down as the hacking scandal broke with credit where it’s due – Nick Davies.
Working from Wireless Generation’s involvement in the 6 billion dollar NCLB Reading First scam, breaking this story would be the pinnacle of a smart investigative reporter’s career.
http://www.doe.in.gov/improvement/turnaround/turnaround-academies
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/murdoch-presses-on-with-academy-plan-despite-hacking-row-2332667.html
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/feb/26/schools-crusade-gove-murdoch
Click to access results-profiles-relevant-schools-wg.pdf
By George (Alexander Louis), I think he’s got it ❢
yes, the Guardian would be an excellent platform to use.
The American media are but another branch of the profit for blood gang.
Mr. Merrow, you have chosen to reveal one example, that being Michelle Rhee, of how the reforms are deceitful, manipulated, damaging, and have a larger story. You tapped into and backed into the much larger story and now have exposed yourself to the true architects and engineers of this movement as a threat. Therefore, like the fired teachers, the unions who are being targeted for destruction, the children who are being measured to death for the sake of another use well beyond their own needs or futures, the schools who are being shuttered and closed for the sake of urban shrinkage and reclaiming and reshaping by those same designers of the America of their vision you have been neutralized within your own profession and the space where you have found voice and purpose. You have become one of the millions marked for extinction unless you march to the same drummer and the same tune of those that would be King or Queen. Keeping in mind that this is as insidious and as dangerous
as anything you could have ever conceived of or imagined. This, Sir, is no sci-fi but a real take over of a nation from the hands of The People by the powers of a marriage between government and corporate interests and more. The Press is being bought and controlled by those that would use duck tape on its reporters and white out for censorship of the Truth.
Just my opinion and I am always hoping to be proved wrong. Unfortunately, it is only getting worse.
I admire your attempt to live your ideal of Democracy through all you have known….
the power of good investlgative reporting filled with unbleached statistics, less opinion and more cold hard facts, connecting the dots, and a coherent use of words to reveal the Truth and educate the reader. However, the power of the pen can only be felt if there is an exposure to the reader. Maybe, the American Dream and the Press have been marked for execution. What a sad ending to a magnificent experiment this would be….for the sake of the future which is truly our children I hope I am wrong. Thank you for trying to expose this misguided plan of some for the sake of the greater whole and good. This is a case where the bad guys believe themselves to be the good guys and everyone else is stupid. Pretty paternalistic and at the root greed ridden. Follow the money! All the answers are in banking and money markets.
“. . . a marriage between government and corporate interests. . . ” The classic definition of fascism as proposed by the originator of the term who ended up strung up naked and dead along with his mistress from lamposts.
May that happen to all the current fascists in this country.
One has to wonder why it took John Merrow so long to figure out that Michelle Rhee was – and is – a charlatan, and that her brand of “reform” was – and is – specious, at best.
One also has to wonder why the editors of TIME magazine, who helped push Rhee into the national limelight with that lurid cover photo of her with the broom, are so reluctant to (1) publicize the Rhee cheating scandal, and (2) admit that they were wrong. (My subscription to TIME will never be renewed until the editors ‘fess up.)
One also has to winder why education reporting in this country is so consistently bad.
(Are you listening Joy Resmovits at the Huffington Post, and Emily Richmond at The Educated Reporter?)
If John Merrow is now “frustrated,” he has only himself to blame, After all, he helped to create the Rhee myth too.
The USA Today reported about possible cheating in Washington under Rhee at least as early as 2011. Is the USA not considered valid or major? Maybe the maker of Waiting for Superman would be willing to make a youtube clip for him. Mr. Merrow was pro-Rhee at one time and maybe he can convince Mr. Guggenheim to take another look at her.
Well, when Merrow was on Rhee’s bandwagon, plenty of people tried to tell him what Rhee was all about, but he wouldn’t listen. Now it’s his turn to not be listened to. Plus, despite suddenly seeing the light on Rhee, he’s still a supporter of rheephorm.
as to his being a support if “rheephorm” that is not at all true, as anyone who has read his books can tell you.
Really? His blog posts sure don’t indicate any such thing. I started to have hopes for him after he started calling out Rhee (rather tepidly, I have to say), but he went right back to being disappointing. He doesn’t get it.
Maybe it’s time for Merrow to join the club of professionals ignored by the media, politicians and edufrauds. Now step up to the plate and be a teacher full time in a k-12 classroom and stop whining.
Newspapers. How quaint.
Using his own money earned for wrongly grasping for the “next big thing” (that impulse that seduced him to “mayoral control”/Anthony Williams/Klein/Rhee in the first place) Merrow could mail his work to every donor to George Miller in his home district [just download it from the FEC.]
Using his own money, Merrow could get in his car and go to the towns where the biggest fights are on-going – Philadelphia, Nashville, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles – and work for free on the communications team for the good guys.
Using his own money, Merrow could produce the movie he claims he wants without corporate or bureaucratic masters he laments and contract bravenewfilms.org to distribute it to their millions of customers.
Instead I suspect, he will sit looking at the tools of the 20th Century that made him what he is & wonder why no one recognizes his “brandname.”
TeacherKen says that John Merrow has not supported Michelle Rhee-like reforms. I’m not so sure, Merrow has basically signed off on valued-added measures of teaching, even though they are notoriously volatile and unreliable.
And though he seems not to take any personal blame for helping to create Rhee (he blames “You,” and “They” and “We”), he did help to popularize what Rhee was doing, and he didn’t dig very deep until way after the cheating scandal had been exposed.
Here’s an example of how inquisitive Merrow was, from PBS on Dec, 22, 2009:
“seven months into the job, her controversial proposals — close 15 percent of the schools and fire central office employees at will — have stirred up a storm of protest.
That raises a question: Is Michelle Rhee trying to do too much, too fast?”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec09/dc_12-22.html
And here’s Merrow from an Aug.10, 2009 piece titled “Higher Scores Test How Washington, D.C., Public Schools Define Success:”
JOHN MERROW: After years of dismal performance, test scores are starting to climb…two years in office makes Michelle Rhee a veteran…She’s accomplished a lot. She’s closed 23 schools, slashed her central office staff, pumped $200 million into school modernization, quadrupled spending on teacher training, and replaced about half of her school principals….on Rhee’s watch, teachers and principals deemed ineffective are being moved out of the system at a higher rate than ever before.”
And this is Merrow from July 23, 2008:
JOHN MERROW: “Preliminary scores on D.C.’s standardized tests do show improvement, with middle school students making impressive 9-point gains in reading and math. But well over half of those students remain at basic or below-basic levels.
Rhee isn’t celebrating just yet.”
MICHELLE RHEE: “I cannot say that the 12th-graders that we graduated this year are prepared for college or for life. No. I can’t say that this year the vast majority of our students met their potential or are — you know, their proficiency levels are great or anything like that.”
JOHN MERROW: “So, you’re giving yourself an F?”
MICHELLE RHEE: “For overall student achievement outcomes, yes.”
JOHN MERROW: “For Rhee, who wants Washington to have the highest performing urban school district in the country by 2015, there’s still a long way to go.”
John Merrow helped to create Michelle Rhee. He bears part of the blame – and there’s plenty to spread around – for failing to ask the hard questions about and do the research on her brand of reform.
To his credit, he’s now taking a more careful look. At long last.
“. . . valued-added measures of teaching, even though they are notoriously volatile and unreliable.”
Be that as it may (and it certainly is that and much worse) the best way to describe VAM and SGPs and whatever other acronymed phrase they can come up with, is: 100% USDA Prime, Grade AAA, Unadulterated BULLSHIT.
So Michelle Rhee gave herself an “F” according to Merrow, but did anyone from the state or authorities give Ms. Rhee-tard any real consequences that affected her employability or cause the stripping away of her licensing?
Ms. Rhee should still face a real government-launched, government- conducted investigation, and if found guilty, should absorb the absolute harshest of consequences allowed by law.
It’s The People vs. Rhee . . . . . .
We could have a virtual mock trial without her and ban her from being near all children except her two girls, poor things.
Robert ~ I always enjoy reading your comments. Until today. Please DO NOT use the phrase “Rhee-tard” again. I find that beyond offensive, especially coming from an intelligent informed person as yourself. Thank you.
Mykids,
I stand corrected . . . . . My apologies and the term never to be used again. Any mock or humorous usage of someone being differently abled is not acceptable.
Thank you for your post.
Apology accepted. Please help “Spread the word to end the word.”
http://therword.org
Thank you.
Mykids, I will send the link to others.
Is there any petition around advocating for programs that teach non-violent communication? If you know of any, please post, and I will sign.
Now I really feel badly, even though it was not my intention at all to minimize differently abled people.
I am indebted to you for your reminder and reinforcement!
Much obliged,
Robert
RR ~ I know you meant no harm. People often use the r word casually, just like that’s so gay, without realizing that not only sticks and stones can break bones, but words do hurt. I don’t know of any petition to sign, or think it would do any good. Best thing to do is “spread the word’ whenever you see or hear it. But there are many things you can do to help. There is a facebook page (Spread the word) where you can sign a pledge to never use the word. We had an anti-bullying program in our middle school where hundreds of middle schoolers signed the pledge to end the use of that word. It made a big difference. I am transferring to a high school that has a best buddy program that is a HUGE success. I really appreciate your kindness. Actions do speak louder than words. If I can help you set up a club or program in your school, I am more than happy to do that. Take the pledge to never use that word again (which you already did) and please don’t feel so guilty. Thank you for your kindness and your willingness to admit publicly (on Dr. Ravitch’s site yet!!) that you were wrong to use that r word in a demeaning way. It takes a big heart and open mind to admit that. I really admire and respect you for that.
Dr. Ravitch ~ sorry to get off topic. But I’ve pledged to stop the use of the r word.
Mykids,
I am #72 on the response to the action pledge on “Spread the Word”.
Thank you again for such empowerment and your encouraging words.
Awesome!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!
Maybe we should, in our blogs and other social media put out the word on the failed outcomes of people like a Rhee, Vallas, Bennett and whoever else. On the cautionary side, districts that have not plunged into this deform movement need to beware. Our current sorry media does not do investigative journalism, especially not on education issues. I’m been daring the L.A. Times for the longest to do a balanced, realistic investigation on what’s going on in LAUSD and all of their education writers have avoided this. All we get in L.A. is feel-good stories about charters and TFAers. Diane’s blog is helping to get the word out about deform education and we all must continue to inform the public because our mainstream media won’t.
In my opinion, the reason no major news outlet will publish an article going against Rhee is a combination of monied interests and the 100% backing of President Obama.
I have to tell you that I’ve been writing about and observing Rhee and the education debate since 2010 when I began seeing that Republican and Democrat corporatists were aligning with Rhee.
I thought, how strange that people on both sides of the aisle were agreeing with each other regarding education reform. I noticed the $500 billion industry as one reason media owners and outlets saw a cash cow so they would be in bed with people like Rhee.
But I figured big money couldn’t be the only reason Rhee was getting away with lying about cheating scandals and with barging into state and local elections buying positions for like-minded pols. There had to be another component to her ability to stay above the fray.
Mainstream media, whether you want to hear it or not, is bought and paid for by the Obama administration.
So, in addition to having the support of corporatists, Rhee has Obama behind her; and by extension the mainstream media.
I am a conservative who understands the need for public schools, and I don’t subscribe to Rhee reforms, corporate influences, hedge fund charter school owners, the Gates buyout of education, or the nationally imposed Common Core Standards.
Ann Kane
Diane, I just begged the Atlantic’s Open Wire forum to “do what no other major media outlet will do” – run John Merrow’s investigative pieces on Michelle Rhee.
One can hope…and we must never give up.
Maybe the Sacramento Bee will pick it up, since Students First is headquartered here, and that makes it a local story. Oh wait…her husband is the mayor of Sacramento. Never mind.
Maybe it’s time for a TRUTH CAMPAIGN! Everywhere you find Rhee’s name online and can post, post links to Merrow’s article. If a newspaper or magazine runs a story, post these links in the online portion (more than once if you have to). If she is appearing in your city, post links to any online portions of local papers. Print out the article and distribute copies outside any building where she gives speeches. There needs to be an outspoken intolerance toward her nonsense.
Great idea!!!!
Agree, so just link Merrow’s blog post everywhere, is that it?
Linda, (there was no “reply” button under you name).
Yes you’re exactly right. Posting links would be good, but I’d be for doing even more such as flyers anywhere Rhee speaks. Of course that part would require organizing.