This is funny.
Politico reports:
“BAY STATE SMACKDOWN: Education Secretary Arne Duncan penned a glowing tribute in the Boston Globe [http://bit.ly/1w1kx3J] this week praising the legacy of outgoing Gov. Deval Patrick in improving the state’s schools. “Quite simply,” he wrote, “Massachusetts leads the nation.” That raised the hackles of Jim Stergios, executive director of the conservative Pioneer Institute. He responded with his own op-ed [http://bit.ly/1BMUz8Z ], which opens with the line: “Who says Common Core advocates don’t like fiction?” Stergios notes that the big gains in Massachusetts test scores came before Patrick took office – and that scores have since dropped in several key areas, such as third-grade reading proficiency and SAT scores. Stergios blasts Patrick for abandoning Massachusetts’ famously high standards in favor of the Common Core. He’s even harsher on Duncan, suggesting that the secretary suffers from a “toxic mix of self-importance and the inability to see reality.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
let them consume themselves with their dueling fictions.
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Meanwhile, in our classrooms ….
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Yes, of course, classroom teachers teachers in Massachusetts continue to deal with the reality on imposed curricula, evaluations based on VAM and the cold knowledge that they and their work is not valued by the state education agency and the new governor, Charlie boy Baker, who will attempt to lift the cap on new charter schools. In Massachusetts the MTA has a forceful leader. Local MTA chapters have to begin to push back against school committees under the sway of the ‘deformers’. We all have to lobby our state representatives and senators to hold back the move to lift the charter cap. These activities are readily ‘doable’. What remains harder to scour away are the ‘deformer’ fictions that have drive state policy development and implementation. The Democrat Governor, Deval Patrick was stuck in the ‘deformer’ fictions and now we have the Republican Governor who will work to further weaken public school. Resistance comes from individuals and groups and parents who support public schools and opt out of the standardized testing.
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chemtchr –
I may have a way to amplify your concerns about Pearson’s invasion of your school. Could you send me an email at clanghoff@verizon.net?
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Please let us know — which version is more accurate?
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Good test scores doesn’t equate to good education; high standards doesn’t equate to delivery of the best education. Massachusetts is no better than the rest of the country in k-12 education from my experience.
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Exactly. We in the Resistance need to stop believing that test scores mean anything, even when they work in our direction.
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Do you think there should be any accountability at all?
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Janine, a better link:
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What a question. If a question is geared to solutions, that one misses the mark.
I accountability is the question, then the missing accountability is that for topdown administrations. It is the total absence of penalties under perjury, for principals and all administrative superiors who have the power to rate teachers that emptied the schools. Take the experienced doctors out of the hospital and let the businessmen determine procedures and medicines used, and when the patients die and the hospital fails, let them blame the doctors… and lie because they have not sworn under oath and penalty of perjury; ensure that the doctors cannot introduce any evidence to the contrary, or see any proof of malpractice.
This is what has occurred… and then Duncan points the conversation to accountability…but not to the lawless management.
Another metaphor, not that it will change anyone’s dearly held beliefs.
A cop is sworn, under penalty of perjury, so when he signs that summons, it is considered truthful.
Principals can say anything they wish. And with no accountability under the law, they do.
Thus, they can charge a teacher with incompetence,or anything, invent the documentation, and offer not shred of evidence.
They did this in LA, and tens of thousands of veteran teachers bit the dust, EACH AND EVERYONE who was CHARGED WAS FIRED, AT A SAVINGS OF OVER 65 THOUSAND DOLLARS IN SALERY AND BENEFITS. FOR EACH ONE GONE and replaced by a novice. Read my last post here which gives the links to proof.
one example is here:
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/03/lausd-and-utla-collude-to-end-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-teachers-part-2.html or
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/03/lausd-continues-to-target-teachers.html
or http://www.perdaily.com/2011/03/lausd-and-utla–connecting-the-dots-of-blattant-corruption.html
and why??? Well $$$$!!!
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/02/lausds-treacherous-road-from-reed-to-vergara–its-never-been-about-students-just-money.html
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Janine,
Because one can prove that those test scores are indeed invalid and mean nothing it doesn’t logically follow that one doesn’t believe in “any accountability at all”.
Duane
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I don’t think citizens are ready to give up all testing.
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Unfortunately, no doubt.
So it’s our job to prepare them to give it up by educating them to the inherent errors and invalidities and the accompanying harms to innocent children caused by those educational malpractices.
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Not sure what your experience is, but mine is 30 years with MA public schools and I will say education rigor increased under Romney with the K-12 standards developed by Sandra Stotsky. Prior to that while employed at a Boston Community College I can say a sizable number of students with HS diploma in hand literally could not read the application. Observing the work my current 13 and 15 year old were bringing home (especially in ELA) I can uniquivocally say the standards do not prepare students to read and think critically with most reading requirements short exerpts or utilizing brief science or social studies articles as reading assignments with very little fiction at all.
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valuable comment from the CLASSROOM PRACTIONER who cows what learning look likes.
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Huh?
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who knows what learning looks like.
Unlike the posting at OPED, where we can peruse a post and catch errors that we missed, WordPress does not allow this… and we all know how to read with contextual clues.
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I have 3 children who went to school in 3 different MA towns spanning from the late 80s to 2013: Canton, Cambridge, and Concord-Carlisle school districts. We eventually removed all three from the schools at around Jr. High age, much of the problem having do with the so-called “rigor”. Our best experience was with the private Waldorf Schools which provide true education, and which we couldn’t afford. Massachusetts, like many other states, is best equipped to deal with top students from high income families, of which they have many, accounting for their “success”. If your child is any less than that (or introverted or artistically inclined as my children are), you will do just as well (or better, as I experienced) in another state. My oldest was told by a Canton HS counselor she would not be able to go to college because she didn’t have “the math gene”. I removed her and sent her to graduate from the high school I attended in Ohio. She did well at a state university and is successful in her life/career. My middle child failed to thrive in Concord/Carlisle because she just didn’t have the personality to deal with the aggressive and competitive environment (we also didn’t share these values, which were much like the damaging atmosphere shown in the film Race to Nowhere). We removed her and she recovered well in the Waldorf environment. When we could no longer afford private school, we moved to a small school district in rural Indiana where she and my youngest will graduate. Similar curriculum, less stress, more support, and the schools are better able to deal with children of different interests, abilities, and backgrounds all in one place.
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You have given a good argument for choice in education. I suppose there is a fair discrepancy in quality of education from town to town although the towns you mentioned are high performing. My experience has been somewhat different in that I think the public schools have done a good job of meeting educational needs of “learning disabled” students and high achieving students, but not such a great job of meeting the needs of average students. Especially average students who tend to be meeker in their demeanor. My now 15 year old is an average/slightly above average academic achieving meek girl with respect for authority, good work ethic, a desire to please and with a general artistic bent with talents specifically toward music (choral and instrumental). She was absolutely overwhelmed by more assertive students by fourth or fifth grade here in North Reading, MA. A cultivating of the more assertive was quite evident and due to fears my meek daughter would end up being lost in the highly competitive environment and not be able to realize her full potential I sought out alternatives to public school. Being unable to afford private schools, I considered and decided to homeschool her after fifth grade. Because of her respect for authority and strong work ethic we decided upon a tutorial program in a neighboring town called New Hope Tutorials where found the right mix of strong academics and social opportunities that allowed her to attend classes 2 days a week and work from home on the other days. She has augmented her education by participating in local 4H program which has allowed her to learn sewing and participate in annual science fairs and visual presentation competitions that has helped her to overcome some of her shyness. This flexible schedule has allowed her to persue some of her other interests such as music in a more immersive way than she could in public school.
I obviously support public education, that is why despite not utilizing it I fight locally to defeat CCSS. Of course public education lost it’s way long before CCSS; threads of which I am only now beginning to follow.
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Sorry, I did not mean to offend anyone’s paticular experience and I realize the awesome task of educating the nation”s children. I just don’t want us to have an attitude that the individual gets lost to the needs of the collective. I’m not sure of the answer, but I still think parents know their children better anyone else and there ought to be some freedom of choice exercised in education.
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Funny. Absurd but the reality. Don’t make me cry!
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“Who says Common Core advocates don’t like fiction?”
We just don’t like the fake reformers propaganda—OOPS—I meant to say fiction, but using fiction like that would insult all the authors out there who write honest fiction to entertain instead of fool people for profit.
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fooling people for profit under the guise of education and calling it an option
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It’s about to get interesting here in MA. The man who’ll be warming up the seat in Deval Partick’s old corner office is a Republican, Charlie Baker (and the ever adroit Paul Toner – ousted by Barbara Madeloni from the MTA – has served on his transition team on his way to his next gig, VIVA). Baker has named good ole Jim Peyser to the post of Sec. of Ed. Peyser, lately of the NewSchools Venture Fund and former Comish of Ed, was responsible for introducing charters to the Commonwealth. He once headed up the Pioneer Institute himself. Pioneer opposes Common Core.
Our current Comish is Mitchell Chester, who loves himself some Common Core and is president of PARCC. So lots of funds have been distributed from taxpayers’ funds and now it seems we’re going to go in a different direction?
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You know Baker’s politics. He is pro charter school (big surprise) and wants to take the lid off the cap on new charter schools. What’s your ‘take’ on the Democrat controlled legislature standing firm or caving in? Peyser is an old line advocate of privaization and his boy at the old DOE. Mitchell Chester, has continued to reconfigure the department to be a branch of Common Core, standardized testing and Charter schools. What the Department has become is plain sickening. Seemingly there is no end in sight..
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Mitchell Chester will be out at the DOE. Pioneer thinks charters are the best thing since sliced bread and, being pro-business, will promote them shamelessly and prolifically aiming to lift the cap especially in Boston.
But Peyser and Pioneer oppose Common Core. I was at a conference in York, Maine in the fall where Mercedes Schneider took down the Common Core in her ineffable manner. The very next speaker was Jaime Goss, of Pioneer, who echoed her same points, with a few sops directed to the “moms” in the audience – satirizing Duncan’s patronizing remarks. The parking lot was full of SUV’s bearing bumper stickers for LePage for governor – he’s one of Jeb’s Chiefs for Change.
Strange bedfellows, indeed.
Citizens for Public Schools is beginning a “Less Testing, More Learning” campaign to rein in some of the testing. There’s a petition up:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/less-testing-more-learning?source=c.url&r_by=9827886
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Thanks for comments re Pioneer and Common Core. Yes, of course, Pioneer and Peyser have ‘history’ and Pionee/Peyser supports Charters big time. The Pioneer flip on
Commone Core makes sense, given their politics. Chester may go, given the messiness of his ties to PARCC, as you say, but the infrastructure and ideological damage has been done at DOE (I keep calling it by the name I know) and as you you know, it is the middle level managers and especially line staff that drives policy implementation; and the latter will remain in place for the foreseeable future (until they retire). What will e critical for the resistance will be he work of CPS to develop and nurture local resistance groups in alliance with the MTA ( which has to start working closely with its dormant, mushy local chapters. Statewide resistance must by work in the communities with centralized coordination. I can imagine a central organizing council developing a cadre of organizers who will travel amongst the communities to build a resistance movement .Scatter shot resistance will not be effective. There must be a coordination of local and state electoral pressures and community education..
Mercedes, CPS and their inter state cohorts remains a beacon for resistance activities; she works tirelessly and fully throws herself into the struggle against anti public school hegemony of federal, state and federal educational anti public school hegemony
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Aren’t Stergios and the Pioneer Institute pro-charter and pro-choice? Perhaps I am not remembering correctly.
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