A reader sent this comment:
“U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued the following statement today in support of Tennessee’s decision to make changes to its teacher licensure policy:
“I want to praise Tennessee’s continuing effort to improve support and evaluation for teachers. For too long, in too many places, schools systems have hurt students by treating every teacher the same – failing to identify those who need support and those whose work deserves particular recognition. Tennessee has been a leader in developing systems that do better—and that have earned the support of a growing number of teachers. Tennessee’s new teacher licensure rules continue that effort, by ensuring that decisions on licensure are informed by multiple measures of their effectiveness in the classroom, including measures of student learning. The new system also adds reasonable safeguards to make sure any judgment about teacher performance is fair.”
“Chicago schools are in chaos, Detroit schools in chaos, Philadelphia schools may not open. What is Arne Duncan concentrating on? Promoting his good friend Mr. Huffman. Last week he was promoting his good friend Mayor Bloomberg.
“The cluelessness is just amazing. I’d say “out of touch” but that may be an understatement. They simply don’t live in the same world we do.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Of course he hails Tennessee’s policies. Kevin Huffman, Tennessee’s education commissioner, is still on good terms with Michelle Rhee, Duncan’s ally in fact, if not by explicit testimonial.
To Arne (… or whoever on his team is “monitoring” Dr Ravitch’s blog),
Could you imagine revoking the license of a doctor, if he or she didn’t haven’t sufficiently high enough cure rates, or a sufficiently positive improvement in their patients’ conditions,
or too many patients died?
Could you imagine disbarring a lawyer because his/her clients’ settlements—monetary or otherwise—were not high enough, that that his clients received too many “GUILTY” verdicts?
Could you imagine a police officer losing his badge because the crime in the geographic area he patrols had an increase in crime, or failed to achieve a sufficient decrease in crime?
You could go on and on all day with analogies.
If you were a freshman in college, and reading Huffman’s latest insanity, would you want to enter into the teaching profession?
Sick. Sick. Sick.
worse he gave PA an NCLB waiver yesterday — praising the state for its efforts in ed “reform” just as it is decimating the public schools in Philly.
“multiple measures of their effectiveness in the classroom, including measures of student learning” Constantly repeated corporate reformer phrase that sounds nice but really means tests scores are everything.
No they do not live in the same world we do and they do not live in the same world as the children they are hobbling for life. But they could. We would willingly make them up a bed in a tiny apartment, crammed into a Section 8 complex, in the middle of a violent/traumatized neighborhood with no services and minimal infrastructure, and let the real life begin. Six months in country with absolutely no time off for good behavior and the effusive praise would suddenly dry up.
As though another reminder was necessary – Arne Duncan must be FIRED.
Dunkin shoud go back to making donuts, or whatever it was he did before.
So- as if things weren’t bad enough for our profession, those who loving teaching may lose their livelihood if the scores aren’t high enough. Now, sign me up for a challenging and impoverished school. No, wait…the suburbs await. Who loses? Did Arne undergo a lobotomy lately?
An outrageous attack on public education by TN and the Secretary. What about doctors and nurses whose patients get sick? Should they lose their licenses? Should lawyers who lose cases get disbarred? What if truckdrivers are late on a delivery because of weather or a traffic jam? Should their CDLs be revoked? If cosmetologists’ clients have bad hair days, do they also lose their licenses in TN?
When teachers in a low-performing school all lose their licenses (including those who teach non-tested subjects), who will teach there? I guess if you don’t have a teaching license to begin with, you have nothing to lose working there!
This seems like a blatant attempt to drive people away from public education.
These people are just too uninformed to know about standardized tests and what they can and cannot do.
Duncan’s professional career was in basketball. He does not even hold a teaching license, and he is the US Secretary of Education.
How is that for “quality control”?
Well, that’s the general message of reform, is it not?
Actual work experience- sticking with a career or vocation-adds absolutely no “value”
He’s perfect for the job.
Of course, using the reform metric, any random person off the street would also be perfect for the job which I suppose they’ll eventually figure out 🙂
None whatsoever! Hey he actually said that he learned to think critically in college. OY! His last name should be changed to DUNCE!
“Tennessee has been a leader in developing systems that do better—and that have earned the support of a growing number of teachers.”
Oh really? I wouldn’t say we’ve been a leader in systems that actually do better (TVAAS? please…), nor do I know of ANY of my colleagues who actually support any of this nonsense.
I am thinking maybe I should auction off the placement of my daughter, an excellent test taker with consistently high scores, to the highest bidding teacher. The teacher gets to keep their job and I get to add to the college fund. Win Win.
Great idea. That is happening now. It is called Monetizing the kids.
Thanks for the link. My high school English teacher would be very proud that I was able to convey my nod to Swift.
Duncan wears his cluelessness, arrogance, dishonesty & corruption like badges of honor. Huffman is his evil twin in that respect. They have nothing but contempt for educators, children & parents. There’s no reasoning with individuals operating at this level of stupidity.
Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain’t no place I’d rather be…. Baby won’t you carry me, back to Arneeeeeee……..
Wonder how much moolah and perks Duncan gets for spouting lies.
Someone forgot to inform him that the TVAAS “measures of student learning” are merely statistical estimates that exist within a very wide “confidence interval” and are subject to recalculation and change after they have been relied upon. Someone also forgot to inform him that the proposal will have licensure decisions made on a single measure, TVAAS, not multiple measures of student learning.
Guess it doesn’t matter to him that the licensure proposal will end teachers’ careers based on a single measure, TVAAS, which is a statistical “estimate” within a fairly wide confidence interval and subject to recalculation and change after it has been relied upon.
Rick, no, he doesn’t care what happens to you or other teachers.
Diane, I am the General Counsel for the Tennessee Education Association. Hopefully we can convince either the State Board of Education or the Legislature how misguided our Commissioner’s licensure proposal is, even if Mr. Duncan refuses to see it.
Rick Colbert,
I am an optimist, or try to be, but even I don’t see how you can persuade the Tennessee legislature that the State Commissioner does not know what he is doing. You have to elect a new governor, one who actually wants to improve education. That is the best way to change course.
So Mr. Colbert, would there be any chance of a class action lawsuit by teachers against the TN Dept. of Ed. if teachers are unable to renew their licenses based on low TVAAS scores or no TVAAS scores?
The Commissioner has overstepped his bounds, and I think some of the legislators have actually tired of it.
Joe, I wouldn’t want to speculate right now on litigation. We haven’t given up on the possibility that the policy makers might get it right this time.
I’ll take that answer as a “no” Mr. Colbert. The operative word in my question was “if.”
By the way, what happened to the suit you were going to bring regarding Tennessee Teachers’ loss of collective bargaining? Are you still in the process of challenging that law or has TEA’s General Counsel been too busy commenting on the Tennessean and on blogs?
Joe, my answer to your question speaks for itself. You certainly are free to “take it” as something else if you choose. Had I known that responding to your inquiry would precipitate an ill-informed insult as your reply, I would have refrained from responding.
You know who I am. If you care to come out from the anonymity of your screen name, I will be happy to have a private exchange with you about bargaining, lawsuits, what I have been contemplating, and even how I spend my time.
You and I have had private exchanges before Mr. Colbert, and I’ve even been to your office. I’m the same Joe. Thinking the policy makers might get it right this time seems a little too hopeful given their track record. Huffman and the state board seem to be putting forth policies that, at the very least, ought to be legislated. I should hope that all options are kept open should teachers’ licensure actually be decided by TVAAS scores.
So what is the status of the suit to challenge the law where teachers lost their collective bargaining rights? I’m not asking for your contemplations; I want to know only the most recent activity to which the public would be privy.
Joe, plenty of people have had private exchanges with me and have been to my office. If you care to share with me who you are, and if I have another private means of contacting you, I will continue this exchange privately.
Sure thing Mr. Colbert. I have your email address. In the meantime, are there any news article links pertaining to litigation (i.e. a filed suit, filed motions, etc.) with regard to challenging the aforementioned legislation itself? Surely such public information could be shared for everyone’s benefit.
So, “Joe,” I never received that email from you. As I said, I will continue this exchange privately if you wish.
I sent an email to you yesterday, and I didn’t hear back. I never received the email back “returned undeliverable.” And now you come on here to say you never got it and put my name in quotations? I’m at a loss, and I guess we are at an impasse.
I’ve tried to find public information online about TEA challenging the law. I read the TEA newsletters too. In my email I mentioned that anything you told me would not be privileged, and I’m not even asking for confidential information anyway.
I’m aware of the cases that were pursued in Sumner and Dickson Counties, and I learned about them in news articles. Of course those cases pertained to bargaining issues before the law went into effect.
All I’m asking is for publicly available news on challenging the collective bargaining law, and that’s ALL I’m asking for. That’s the issue, and there’s no need to evade it. If the answer is that you’re still working on it, okay. It’s been two years, but I realize legal issues take time. If you have a link to a news article about measures that have been taken, I would certainly appreciate it if you would share it.
Joe, I have told you that I will continue the substance of this exchange in private. I received no email on this subject matter, and I found none in my spam or junk mail. Perhaps you don’t have my correct email address. If you want to give me your real name here, I will contact you; or, since you know all about me, you can call my office and speak with me.
By the way, Joe, if you cannot reach me at my office either by email or by phone, you can always call the TEA office and leave a message for me there (preferably with someone in Legal Services).
Well, Joe, I never heard from you Friday. No email (I even checked the spam filter again), no phone call, no voice mail (at least not the last time I checked late Friday afternoon), and no message from TEA.
I will be on the road Monday and Tuesday, but I will still be checking email, and my assistant will get me the message if you call. Or perhaps you can reply here with your first name and last initial or something that might help me identify you, so I can look up your contact information.
In what businesses does Arne invest his money? Boycott them. Maybe then he will listen?
Will litigation and lawsuits come from damages to teachers?
I wonder if Duncan will support a law that would forbid charter CEOs from operating in the state of Tennessee when their test scores are low? Come on now, fair is fair. I think this shows just how little respect Duncan has for people who actually work and teach for a living. It is shameful that people who have gone to school and taken the required tests for licensure would have their ability to make a living stripped all due to test scores. What a bizarre time to teach in the state of Tennessee. I really can’t believe the legislature would waste their time with such a bill. It is just ridiculous.