Responding to a third-grade teacher who despaired of complying with all the demands pressing on her, this reader asks the best question of all: why is this hard-working, dedicated, conscientious teacher compelled to satisfy Bill and Melinda Gates? Frankly, the same question occurred to me but this reader asked it better than I.
How did the world become so topsy-turvy that these two individuals have become the arbiters of good teaching when neither of them was ever a teacher?
Granted, they are extremely rich. But I’m willing to bet that neither would last a day in any third-grade classroom. Who put them in charge of the teaching profession? How did they get the power to decide who is and is not an effective teacher? What is the source of their presumed expertise? Why should every teacher in the land feel that they must please Bill and Melinda?
The question of the day, then, is this:
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Take a moment and focus on this 3rd grade teacher’s closing sentence: “So, if the Gates’ are solely using CST scores as their results indicators I will probably be labeled as an ineffective teacher.”
There’s the problem. The Gates are using scores (or biometric bracelets, or student surveys, or ….) that will cause this teacher, and all of us, to be labeled ineffective. My point? Why are the Gates’ even in this equation? How did we get to the point where we have allowed anyone to GIVE our entire public school system to two individuals who, while they may be generous, thoughtful, savvy, intelligent, and powerful, have no formal training in being a teacher, nor practical experience to suggest what public education should be. If Mr. Gates wants to help public education, I invite him to continue to pioneer new technologies which will assist us in bringing the world into our classrooms and allowing students of multiple intelligences and abilities to show learning with the tools he is gifted enough to create – but please, leave the decisions for running our schools and educating our youth to the teachers who have trained for this vocation and are able to articulate exactly what is needed and how we need to get there.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
Why do I get the sense that we, all of us who “get it”, are throwing rocks at a tank? Discouraging. . .
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Don’t be. Because one of these days, one of us “little people”—you know, educators, parents, citizens—will be standing on top of that tank after convincing the soldiers inside to do what is in their interest—and in the interest of their children, and join us.
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I hope what you say is true. However, unfortunately, the “little people” all to often Rachel Corried (RIP) for their brave actions.
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Sorry, meant to type “are Rachel Corried”
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I can see why you would get that sense. But think of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, when the Hungarian people were literally throwing rocks at tanks. The people won.
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When you look at the long list of people who know what is best for education you find a lot of people who didn’t go to public schools and/or will never send their child to a public school. As someone who got an education in public school that would put 99% of private schools to shame, I find this unnerving. As we’ve seen from Michelle Rhee and others, this subject’s a cheap way of bring attention to yourself simply by criticizing and offering some easy populist solutions that don’t focus on the real issues that impact kids getting a decent education.
The fact is that any school can look good if it gets to pick the kids it accepts, has involved parents, doesn’t have to deal with children with learning disabilities, and is allowed to kick any child out who doesn’t meet its behavioral standards. This makes private school a great option for parents who can afford it. But it ignores the reality that if we believe every child deserves a great education, we have to also address the issues outside of the classroom that keep them from getting one. The greatest teacher in the world cannot succeed without at least a little help from parents, students, her school, and her community. I think we need dedicated and impassioned teachers, but we need look at the whole picture before deciding that a single score determines their fate. The truth is that the brightest and best in ANY profession will look for another job elsewhere if their livelihood is threatened by something that makes no sense.
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Keep pushing. The more noise we make, the more “rocks we throw”, the more likely it is that we’ll soon see a contemporary, American version of this: http://valdaiclub.com/media/main/51/9215.jpg
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In this country, the very few speak for absolutely everyone else. This is oligarchic, not democratic. We have a cult of the extremely rich, and/or powerful. The Gates couple, Daniel Coleman , Michelle Rhee, some mayors — a handful of individuals are driving education policy. Even if you like some of their ideas (I see Coleman get creeping support), you should be quite troubled that so few people, with so little experience get to create ed policy.
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A challenge we face is two-fold. The people making decisions are not in classrooms so they do not understand the impact of their decisions or reactive ways. Second, we are treating education as business with the rules of business in force. When apply principles unsuited to the venture it will fail. This failure cannot be allowed to happen, children are the potential victims.
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