EduShyster has written a hilarious column about an interesting proposal.
According to EduShyster, some very important hedge fund manager was upset by Motoko Rich’s article in the New York Times about the short (two-to-three year) “career” of charter teachers. He suggested that teachers should be as ready and as tough as Navy Seals: the best of the best! They turn over often, and who cares?
EduShyster finds humor in the comparison, as you would expect.
The biggest drawback, it seems, is the difference between Teach for America training (five weeks) and the Seals’ training. Read on and enjoy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Whitney is a “he”? I always thought Whitney was a girl’s name, you know like Whitney Houston. Maybe that’s Tilson’s problem-being called a girl’s name all his (her?) life.
I wonder if Whitney knows that we were recalling our 40+ year old Navy Seals at the start of the war on terror. Offers of $ 250,000 and not as trainers, as field op leaders.
The name problem comes from a general lack of cultural awareness. The WASP founders of the New England colonies used surnames also as first names to indicate the matrilineal heritage of the men. The women were also generally given the mother’s maiden name as a middle name. Hence the preponderance, in some families, of the men with the first names Whitney, Dana, Clark, Mason, etc. This tradition continues unbroken in many families today. Please also note the lack of names like Gates, Bush, Duncan, Bloomberg, etc.
It is a somewhat apt metaphor, though not in the way Tilson might think.
TFAers, like the Navy Seals pictured in Edushysters post, are overwhelmingly white, exist in a secretive, insular world kept separate from those who don’t “measure up,” and are employed to destroy things.
It’s interesting to read his bio, and learn what has led him to such wonderfully “outside of the box”, counter-intuitive insights.
Like many pro-privatizing education policy makers (and charter school teachers) he has a massive background in not-teaching. He has, however, spent many, many hours thinking about teaching. (and, unfortunately, after that, writing about teaching)
The scary thing is he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. This begs the question: how can so much brain add up to so little intelligence?
His capacity for synthesizing real world events and reconciling the blatantly incongruous, has left him, well… Republican/Neoliberal.
What’s even more concerning is that with his MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School, his opinions, like those of many, concerned with the improvement of education, represents the culmination of an Ivy League Higher Education.
You can’t find his bio on his blog, but on a webpage here: (http://www.arightdenied.org/about/) that is in large part dedicated to criticizing/bashing Diane Ravitch
Jonathan,
Thanks from the link. Here is a little of what Tilson says about Diane:
“In my opinion, most of what she is currently saying and writing is completely wrong-headed, based on shoddy and one-sided research and analysis, yet because of her sterling resume and the fact that she was once a reformer, her views are quite influential and thus she is one of the greatest obstacles to the reforms our schools so desperately need.
My goal is to expose her for what I believe she is: a thinly disguised shill for the teachers’ unions, advancing their agenda of entrenching the unacceptable status quo that’s working very well for the adults, but hurting millions of children, especially the most disadvantaged ones. Ravitch is very clever in criticizing reformers and their efforts, and argues that because they haven’t produced “the quantum improvement in American education that we all hope for,” the solution is to abandon reform efforts entirely. Rather than offering a compelling alternative plan, Ravitch retreats into vague platitudes and nice-sounding nostrums that will leave the abysmally failing status quo unchallenged and unchanged.
Ravitch’s Motivations
Ravitch criticizes nearly every type of meaningful reform, but saves special venom for Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein and their efforts to reform New York City’s Public schools, where 2% of U.S. schoolchildren are educated (or not). Her attacks on Chancellor Klein in particular are so fierce and biased that it reeks of personal vendetta, which a New York Times article even alludes to it: “Some said she was nursing a grudge because close friends had lost jobs in the mayor’s shake-up of the schools’ bureaucracy.” Thus, I’m not convinced that the reason she’s changed her views 180 degrees is simply new thinking based on new evidence, as she claims. Klein has given as good as he’s got here, so there’s no love lost between these two. The reason I bring this up is that I think Ravitch’s feelings toward Klein (who is one of the highest profile, most outspoken reformers), has poisoned her mind against all reform and everyone who works with and/or supports Klein and what he’s trying to do. I also think her close personal relationship with Randi Weingarten, President of American Federation of Teachers, affects her views greatly.”
And his bio:
Whitney Tilson is the founder and Managing Partner of T2 Partners LLC and the Tilson Mutual Funds, which manage a number of value-oriented hedge funds and mutual funds. Mr. Tilson is also the co-founder of Value Investor Insight, an investment newsletter, and the Value Investing Congress, a biannual investment conference.
Mr. Tilson co-authored the 2009 book, More Mortgage Meltdown: “6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times”, has written for Forbes, the Financial Times, Kiplinger’s, the Motley Fool and TheStreet.com, and was one of the authors of “Poor Charlie’s Almanack”, the definitive book on Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger. He is a CNBC Contributor, was featured in a 60 Minutes segment in December 2008 about the housing crisis that won an Emmy, has appeared dozens times on CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business Network, was on the cover of the July 2007 Kiplinger’s, has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and has spoken widely on value investing and behavioral finance.
If he wants there to be a true comparison why not pay teachers hazard pay like navy seals. Our teachers deserve it. How about tax free income on $ earned while in combat. Teachers would never get that either. How about large signing bonuses to re-up their commitment to stay in the navy. Teachers wouldn’t get that either. How about autonomy to do what’s needed to comets the mission. Teachers can have that either. Man, the comparison is shockingly similar! Another out of touch politician with zero educaton experience who thinks his 2 cents can solve a problem he knows nothing about! God forbid they would ask a classroom teacher how to fix things!
To answer the question of the post NO! We wouldn’t want teachers trained in that fashion. We need teachers who are educated not trained.
Diane,
Can you please let your readers know. Here is a new documentary coming out TONIGHT, Sept. 6 by Guggenheim, called “Teach.”
http://nypost.com/2013/09/06/best-teachers-in-america/
I believe that documentary was created by Davis Guggenheim, who also directed the anti-public school, anti-teacher “Waiting for ‘Superman'”–right?
Exactly, right! It should be one to watch. Critique to follow?
My kids’ past teacher is featured. She is a great math teacher, and my kids said she had a way of explaining math that was easy to follow and understand. The Kahn Academy is being featured in the documentary and was funded by the Albertson’s Foundation. Some kids were able to excell with the Kahn Academy, which is awesome! Will Idaho use it as a one-size-fits all program? My only hopes is that it will be used as a “tool” vs. the “new and latest” way to “Teach.”
http://magicvalley.com/news/local/cbs-documentary-follows-idaho-teacher/article_0e0f6112-0c82-50b2-8ca6-d66d172770e4.html
Perhaps this will be used to promote the online/virtual academies in Idaho and elsewhere? Of course, only speculation.
It ended with thanks to Bill and Melinda for funding the movie.
It was a two hour Khan academy promotion with praise for test prep and high stakes testing as the measure of everyone’s worth: students, teachers, schools.
They asked one girl if she would rather see One Direction or see more Khan Academy videos…she chose Khan. Lady Gaga or Khan..she chose Khan. Her horse or Kahn..she said she would feed or care for her horse and then go right to Khan videos. Very realistic..most preteen girls would give up One Direction tickets to watch Sal Khan. Sure.
And notice they praise the teachers for working so hard even though they don’t make a lot of money because we do it for the kids. We shouldn’t expect a decent professional salary because it is a “calling” and we should be happy we sacrifice for others. Once you discuss your salary, benefits or due process rights then you can no longer truly care about children.
The movie is also being used to recruit temporary newbies and create constant churn so the corporatists can be rid of experienced, unionized, expensive veterans.
Once again, propaganda funded and promoted by a billionaire and his minions.
48 schools will try the Kahn way of teaching. I think it can work for some students, but again, it’s not a one size fits all. My kids did better with teacher instruction. Kahn Academy has its’ shortcomings, and doesn’t work without a teacher available to answer questions.
http://boisestatepublicradio.org/post/48-idaho-schools-flip-classroom-and-pilot-khan-academy-online-learning
I noticed on Tilson’s blog that there is no reader commentary allowed. Afraid to be challenged on his view, eh, unlike the moderator of this blog on education.
Why he’s as brave as a baby seal!
Duane Swacker: I don’t know why aggrieved groups call on me in such cases, but I have been contacted by the Baby Seal Community. I was urged to present their case to you in the hope that you would cease and desist in spreading malicious gossip about them.
Perhaps the strongest point they made was that by comparing them to Whitney Tilson you have fed into one of the most degrading stereotypes that has been pinned on them. As part of their rebuttal, they reminded [?] me of the old saying, “Baby seals rush in where edufrauds fear to tread.”
I must admit—to a 98% certainty of a satisfactory answer—that I cannot recall that exact saying circulating around my neck of the woods. Nonetheless, perhaps we can let such facile characterizations go the way of such chestnuts as Leech like a Champion—Handouts are the Only Friends You Need, Masking Tape and Mhee—Silence is Golden if Bloody, and Spontaneously on Demand—Docility-Driven Decision Making, i.e., into the No Excuses Bin with shirts turned inside out and with the miscreants sitting on the floor.
I assured them that I would appeal to your better nature, hoping (as I am sure we all do) that you are more concerned with Quality & Accuracy of Exposition rather than Numerical Quantity of same.
No more clubbing.
Please. Baby seals everywhere are looking to you.
🙂
P.S. Even Baby Seals have humorists. Turns out one of them likes Mark Twain too. Using artistic, or poetic, or some sort of license to download for free, this gem popped up: “If Whitney Tilson could be crossed with a Baby Seal, it would improve Whitney Tilson but deteriorate the Baby Seal.”
Believe me when I say you can’t make this sort of stuff up.
Honest.
🙂
Since you insist I will cease and desist. . .
with comparing innocent seals. . .
to the heal. . .
that tis the TWHIT!!
How about this one by The Whit: “As someone who has been fighting in the education reform trenches for over twenty years,. . . ”
The TWHIT has never taught a day in his life but has the gall to think that he has the knowledge and expertise to have been “fighting in the education reform trenches”. HUBRIS thy name is The Whit.
It is just plain stupid. I’m so tired of hearing this bs. Ed. reform is such a joke now. All the cheesy slogans and hollow rhetoric have gotten so stale.