Corporate reformers love the idea of creative disruption. They think that closing schools and opening schools is a bold, innovative stroke.
It’s never their own children who lose their school.
It’s never their own community.
They never ask those involved, because when they do, the people say a loud “No.”
People have many reasons to care about a community school, not just its test scores.
But corporate reformers would like everyone to shop for their school the way they shop for shoes, with no loyalty, no ties, no community.
They think that’s progress. But not for their children. For other people’s children.
A reader writes:
| I think one way to counter the fast march to privatization might be to talk about stability.One thing that is important to parents and students, I would think, is stability. People move to certain neighborhoods because they like the schools. If those schools are subject to impulsive decision making processes, instability and even interruption of education could follow. I think our traditional system has been successful in providing some stability for communities. Starting in the 1920s or even before, we built large attractive buildings that were like temples of education. People are loathe to tear down some of these buildings and closing a school is often a heart-wrenching event. Part of what bothers me about charter school businesses is that they can be here today and gone tomorrow. Then a community has build a school from the ground up. Either that or charters take kids from all over a city tearing apart communities, leaving building vulnerable to sale. Getting rid of our education infrastructure seems a grave mistake. Even in our highly mobile society, the presence of schools that are not located in malls and that are run by elected officials and regulated by states can provide a common experience for kids. |
|
|
|
|
Like this:
Like Loading...
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It appears as though these corporate reformers are ignorant as to how their reforms may be affecting the thousands of rural schools across this country. These schools help hold the community together, and when these begin to close the communities begin to collapse and, possibly, disappear. I know in my own experience, the elementary school I attended was eventually closed (in the late ’70s) because of the push being “bigger is better” (consolidation). We were lucky in that the gym of that school has become a community center of sorts. However, a number of other closed schools in our county were not so lucky, and now you don’t hear about those communities.
I admit that I do not know how the closing of schools affects communities in cities or urban areas. I would think that the school is still a central place for the community, but I may be mistaken. I hope that someone out there will educate me on this aspect.
I also wonder if, perhaps, this is an underlying problem. Perhaps these corporate reformers, being in their “ivory towers” do not understand the concept of community. Perhaps they do not, or refuse, to understand that in order to build a strong country people need to feel a part of something, and this is where our schools come in.
The corporate reformers feel a sense of belonging on the golf courses at their country clubs, at the fundraisers for their children’s elite private schools, in their box seats for their professional team of choice, from their alumni clubs/athletic associations affiliated with their prestigious colleges, at their black tie affairs for their cultural/charity interests, in the board rooms of their companies, etc.
They couldn’t possibly understand that a meager public school might provide people with a sense of community.
Wow! Great comparison and on target! Don’t mess with their institutions and rituals.
Can you give me a list of these Corp. reformers who are leading the reform efforts courtesy Arne Duncan?
Start by going to the website of Democrats for Education Reform, the organization of the Wall Street hedge fund managers.
I did. From what I read a few Hedge Fund Managers started Democrats for Ed. Reform. I’m not sure how a few Hedge Fund Managers equal “Corp. Reformers”? I was expecting a list of large Corps to be listed as those behind the education reform movement. Not a few Hedge Fund Managers who think they can bypass the local community and reform education for the millionth time.
Stability is important, however it’s not the same as mobility. Mobility is changing schools frequently not related to grade promotion. Stability is the % of students that remain in the class during a school year. You can have 80% stability, however the other 20% could have turned over many times.
I wrote on mobility in 2005. I have since grown concerned about interagency sharing of data.
Moving Forward: Helping New York’s Highly Mobile Students to Succeed
Click to access EDNYstudentmobility.pdf
Student Transience in North Carolina
The Effect of School Mobility on Student Outcomes Using Longitudinal Data
Click to access 1001256_student_transience.pdf
[“Strategic” school moves (cross-district) benefitted or had no effect on student performance, but “reactive” moves (within district) hurt all groups of students. White and Hispanic students were more likely to move to a higher quality school while Blacks were more likely to move to a lower quality school. The negative effects of school mobility increased with the number of school moves.]
Finally, in 2010, GAO:
K-12 Education: Many Challenges Arise in Educating Students Who Change Schools Frequently
Click to access d1140mobility.pdf
It’s never their kids because they wouldn’t dare put them in a failing public school.
Where do Obama’s kids go to school??
Where do the politician’s kids go to school?
Where do the teacher’s kids go to school?
Hint: It’s not the public school system.
I’m surprised that you continue to call this a corp. reform effort. Marc Tucker is hardly a Corp. elitist.
Bill Gates is a political elitist too.
Jeb Bush and Rhee, political hacks.
Corps have to deal with the garbage that comes out of the public school system. While some may be going along with their political “Masters” in this effort, I do not see that this a Corp. led movement. This is a politically motivated/led movement instituting the Tucker plan.
Corps play the political game just as their political masters require them to do.
“Where do the teacher’s kids go to school?” The vast majority, at least in my district, go to the public schools in which they reside.
“Corps have to deal with the garbage that comes out of the public school system”. Absurd on the face of it!! Please explain to whom, and to what this “garbage” is referring. Rather strong term to be used in a such a nonsensical statement.
“Corps play the political game just as their political masters require them to do”. Man, you have that completely bass ackwards.
Obama enrolled their daughters in the prestigious Sidwell Friends School.
When Obama was a senator, they attended the University of Chicago’s Laboratory School, a private school.
A Heritage Foundation survey: 37% of the members of the House of Reps and 45% of senators sent their kids to private schools.
Public-school teachers enroll their own children in nonpublic schools to a much greater extent than the general public. In Cincinnati about 41% of them send their children to nonpublic schools. In Chicago it is 38 %, LA it’s 24%, New York 32 %,.
Congressmen and public school teachers enroll their children in private schools at rates 3 to 5 times the rate of the general public.
I use the term “garbage” on the recycled failed fads used over and over in public education: OBE, Project Based Learning, Constructivism, fuzzy math, whole language, real world learning, democracy in action, standards based grading (note non of this focuses on academic excellence)
When 30 to 40% of the high school grads have to enroll in remedial ed upon entering college, do you not consider the education they received …garbage?
Sorry, I do.
Linda, What was the date of the Heritage Foundation survey you cite. My recollection is that the Heritage Foundation–which is far-right and hates public education or anything that is public–did their survey about 20 years ago. I am now aware that it was outdated. You may be citing figures compiled in 1990.
Diane,
Click to access _fordham_study.pdf
Fordham’s comes from 2004 although I suspect with the hardship from an economy that is in the crapper, it might be a bit tougher to pay that tuition.
My kids attend parochial schools with plenty of children whose parents are public school teachers.
Those who cannot afford the tuition, will home-school their children in traditional math since our public schools are full of failed fuzzy math programs.
Don’t believe these so-called “studies” that purport to show that public school teachers send their children to private schools. They always come from rightwing, anti-public education sources, not from reputable independent, university-based researchers. They are political propaganda in the ongoing war against public education.
Right wing?? Fordham supports centralizing education!! Hardly a right wing org. if you ask me.
When you hold hands with Obama/Duncan as Finn did, that’s NOT a right wing agenda. Obama is left of the lefties!
I am a teacher. My children attended public school and then have done well….independent, grateful, honest, caring, productive, thoughtful citizens.
What is your point? I suggest you be more concise. I am starting to skim your entries.
Linda
I live in the 2nd highest ranking district in my state. I live in a state that ranks high among the other states in the country. We have numerous students enrolled in private tutoring (luckily the parents can afford it) We have parents pulling their kids out to send them to private schools because they realize the scores mean nothing.
My kids attend parochial schools because I understand the fraud taking place in my district.
If you live in a district that puts academic excellence as their top priority, congrats. However I live in a state that has fully implemented the Obama/Duncan/Tucker reforms and it’s a disaster.
Not every school has fallen victim to the complete dumbing down that is taking place in my district, but most have.
Tucker came to our states a few years ago and implemented all of his fads via the DOE. The DOE looks to graduate students, just don’t ask them to read/write/add and subtract.
They’ve tried to make going to school FUN but that comes at a cost. What they focused on was not academic excellence but more social engineering.
IF that is something you’d prefer NOT to hear about, then do what you must do.
Do you mind saying which state this is?
Also, that was direct and descriptive..to the point. I think I get lost in your posts because you often spatter your political points as well and I am trying to search for what is happening in your schools or state. Sometimes there is also too much religious invective, so I skim.
It is not that I don’t want to hear about it though. I just gets daunting to read when you try to filter our your religious beliefs.
From Tucker’s/NCEE web site: http://www.skillscommission.org/?page_id=135
NH:
New Hampshire
“In collaboration with Governor John Lynch and the State Board of Education, I am formally requesting New Hampshire be considered for inclusion in the consortium of states that you are developing. Now is the time to further our work to personalize education in partnership with the work defined in ‘Touch Choices or Tough Times.’ Our first step will be to develop a Board Examination system for New Hampshire. New Hampshire’s P–16 working group has authorized an investigation of possible testing programs aligned to syllabi set to international standards.” — Lyonel B. Tracy, Commissioner of Education, New Hampshire
“We are pleased to be a major partner in the state’s P-16 working group and very much support the inclusion of New Hampshire as a state with which the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce will assist to achieve new policies and goals to make students college ready.” — Stephen J. Reno, Chancellor, University of New Hampshire
“New Hampshire’s economy rests on the quality of its schools, colleges and universities to prepare a workforce with 21st century skills. I believe that New Hampshire is well situated and eager to move forward in this direction that will ultimately enable us to ensure that the vast number of New Hampshire students will be college ready without remediation by about 16 years of age.” — Lou D’ Allesandro, State Senator, New Hampshire
“The current economy in New Hampshire and in particular, our local community, are forcing us to look at alternative ways to meet the educational needs of our students while at the same time, meeting the needs of the community… Your work and the conclusions in ‘Tough Choices or Tough Times’ present exciting opportunities to be explored.” — Brian J. Blake, Ed.D, Superintendent of Schools, Hopkinton School District, New Hampshire
“The work of the New Commission on the Skills of the American outlines the type of thinking in which we must engage for our children’s benefit.” — Michael W. Delahanty, Superintendent of Schools, Salem School District, New Hampshire
New Hampshire State Governors Office
New Hampshire Department of Education
Can you give me examples of when I posted my religious beliefs?
MomWithABrain,, you write: “Bill Gates is a political elitist too.
Jeb Bush and Rhee, political hacks.”
I agree with Diane — I consider them ‘corporate reformers’. In FL, the legislation that was implemented to create this high stakes regime and parent trigger/ voucher push-out to corporate charters was pushed by corporate lobbyists… jeb, rhee, gates are all part of that mix.
I use the term ‘corporate reformer’ – not just for the lobbyists of corporations and their ALEC… but also for the politicians, philanthropists, & privateers who push their policies.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter what term is used… we all see it happening and know it is not right for our kids. Whether in NH or FL… public school children are not widgets meant to stimulate our global economy. They have the right to a free and equal education.
I applaud Diane Ravitch for speaking up and helping us to share our opinions.
Thank you for the clarification. I truly did not understand why this is labeled “corp. reform”.
All of these people pushing education reform come from a political movement.
I don’t think it’s clear to others when you refer to this as a corp. reform effort.
Or maybe it’s just me.
When I hear the term Corp. reform, it seems to me the target would be Corps. However I see the problem (with the reform movement) coming from the bureaucrats and politicians and political activists.
I think that’s a more accurate description
I do see the money to be made by those who will benefit from all of these reforms: Pearson, Tech. Ind., etc. But this is a political problem to me much more than any Corp related problem.
Unless I’m missing something?
People, how long must this go on…it’s NOT about the kids, it’s about the 4 or 5 TRILLION dollars spent on education in the US every year…that’s a HUGE pile of cash and the ed reformers want it like a boy wants to kiss his first crush…
Seriously, read the story from Miami regarding the courts upholding the districts ability to shut down a charter school…when the FL DOE gave the school (abysmal situation, horrid conditions, unsafe and unsanitary) permission to re-open, they didn’t..and now are suing the school system to recoup monies “owed”…
when you run a business, eventually you succeed or you fail…if you succeed, you branch out…if you fail, you close up shop and move on…
when you teach children, closing up and moving on is not an option…
so although we think it unconscionable but for them, it’s not personal…just business.
Every child in America deserves a great school.
“Let’s hear it for stability” ?
Uggggh.
To all children in America who are virtually condemned to fail by the combination of their home environment and their school “let’s hear it for stability” ?
Double uggggh.
Good schools are not constantly churning students and teachers.
Good schools are stable schools.
You have to be a parent to know that.
Actually Diane, I would add to your ‘have to be a parent’ to broaden it to ‘have to have had a stable educational base/experience yourself’. I know what change was and still is for my own children but before I had kids of my own. I remember my own experiences- looking forward to being in Ms. X’s class or ‘when I get to this grade I will probably get Mr. T’. Continuity was a good thing- it helped make school predictable and something to look forward to. Churning through teachers- students know that their teachers aren’t going to be there the next year they are not as invested and they begin to feel that the teacher is not invested in them. There is no looking forward to Mr. So n So’s class and that is a loss for the students themselves. It may be the only bit of stability that some of these kids ever get to experience. I agree that parents have a heightened sense of stability means for their child’s ( and their own) school experience but I think that anyone can pull back in their own experiences and remember what having a stable school felt like.
Good schools are stable schools. Unfortunately, bad schools have their own version of stability when they are allowed to continue year after year failing the parents and students they are supposed to serve.
A major reason reformers have control of the public education agenda is because the general public lost faith in politicians and educators to fix that bad kind of stability.
For some it is tempting to believe that education reform pits the wealthy 1% vs. the rest of us 99%. Unfortunately, the wealthy 1% tapped into and continues to tap into sentiment shared by a good portion of the general public.
That is why on some of the issues discussed here, when you look around for the 99% to support you, they are often absent or willing to rally in much smaller numbers.
Teachers deserve better leadership than they have today. I hope they get that. I hope they put together an agenda to win back the hearts and minds of those in the general public they have lost. I worry that, until teachers do this, they will be isolated politically and constantly be in react mode rather than driving their agenda.
I am a parent with many parents standing by my side sharing this view.
Ed, this is silly. The reformers have waged a relentless PR campaign to undermine the faith that Americans have always had in public education. And they are winning the PR war as the latest Gallup poll shows. But the latest Gallup also shows that parents of children in public school hold them in high regard.
And why not? NAEP shows that test scores in math and reading are at their highest point in history. You believe the reformer myths. Inform yourself.
Diane
Oh please, it’s now a relentless PR campaign by reformers that has undermined faith in public education? And you are implying that people are too dumb to see through this PR campaign?
We parents love our teachers. Why? Because almost all teachers are good teachers and many are great teachers. What’s not to love? Should we ascribe that to a relentless PR campaign by teachers to fool us into loving them? No.
But many in the public believe our public education system needs to improve and they don’t believe education leaders are leading us in that direction.
This is incredibly frustrating to me because I want our public education system to succeed. I don’t want to see it ripped apart as is now happening and I don’t want to see teachers, parents, and children paying the price for that.
I remember a time when I expected education leaders to have more self-awareness and to take a step back and examine their role in how the public has lost faith in our public education system. Each day I see the odds of that happening diminish. It easier to claim to claim capitalist corporate conspiracy. They are controlling our minds.
I will continue to hold reformers just as accountable for their actions as I do education leaders. I have no problem pointing to a litany of stupid things some reformers have proposed and done. Why can’t education leaders objectively analyze their failings and mistakes, put forth an agenda that recaptures the public’s support, and, most of all, LEAD !
Diane, you point out correctly that NAEP scores are at their highest point since NAEP testing began but I am shocked that your primary argument for why we should love our public schools are standardized test score results.
Ed, we have been fed a steady diet of negative PR for the past ten years about the alleged “failure” of public education. It is nonsense.
Our schools are better than they have ever been. We have been told that the sky is falling, and one obvious proof that of their success is NAEP scores.
NAEP scores in reading and math are at their highest point in history for every group–whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians. I mention this for two reasons:
One, it demonstrates the Big Lie technique to which we have been subjected for so long. Did Bill Gates ever mention this obvious fact? Did Joel Klein & Condoleeza Rice admit it when they said that our public schools are a threat to national security? No, it didn’t even get a mention.
The other reason I cite NAEP scores is that they are NO-STAKES tests. No student, no teacher, no school gets rewarded or punished because of NAEP scores.
I believe in the value of tests for information. I will resist and oppose high-stakes tests. Please read my post about Campbell’s Law.
Diane
Diane, for the past decade we have been fed a steady diet of PR about the performance of public education from both sides of the debate. Each side refers to their stuff as “information” and the other sides’ stuff as PR.
I was very careful in what I said earlier in this thread:
“Unfortunately, bad schools have their own version of stability when they are allowed to continue year after year failing the parents and students they are supposed to serve. A major reason reformers have control of the public education agenda is because the general public lost faith in politicians and educators to fix that bad kind of stability.”
So, I’m focused on schools that are failing, that’s where the sky is falling and we can do much much better.
As you suggested I read your post about Campbell’s Law. Campbell’s is neither a “law” (in the physical science sense) nor a reason not to use high-stakes testing to measure certain outcomes. When anything is high-stakes, there is an increased incentive people to cheat and some do cheat. It could be children taking tests, teachers administering tests, athletes competing in a sport, a publically-owned company reporting its earnings, a person getting their first mortgage.
However, we shouldn’t cancel the SATs, the World Series, the Super Bowl, get rid of company earnings reports and all stocks and stock exchanges, and ban mortgages because people have a greater incentive to cheat on these high-stakes activities. Anything high-stakes requires rules, regulation and oversight. High-stakes testing in education is no different.
It’s fine to have high stakes in baseball. The object of the game is to win the game.
It’s fine to have profit and loss reports for business. The object of the business is to make money,not to lose money.
It is NOT fine to define education by tests of reading and math, because the purpose of education is much larger and more diverse than getting high scores on standardized tests.
Do you not care about character, citizenship, love of learning, health, and all the other behaviors and outcomes that are associated with good schools?
Diane
Diane, I just read your post beginning with “It’s fine to have high-stakes in baseball…” See my reply “How the SAT is used…” I wrote it before reading your baseball post and it addresses some of the things you note regarding the importance of non-high-stakes factors.
Ed,
I am a teacher and a parent and I never expected my childrens’ teachers to defend themselves against an onslaught of attacks and lies. I wanted them to focus on their jobs not prove to me that they were worthy. If they are teaching and mentoring and have their students best interest in mind, that was all I needed.
As a teacher, my customers are my students and their parents. I have had all siblings in one family. I have had children of my students. Our reputation as dedicated teachers speaks for itself.
I am busy reading, planning, grading, meeting, making phone calls, attending PPT’s, 504 meetings, student assistance teams, etc, etc, etc. The list is endless.
We haven’t lost the minds and hearts of our customers. Besides doing my job, I don’t have much time left over to prove anything to the general public or to you. Maybe you shouldn’t buy into the
Iies propagated by the faux reformers looking to profit off children while bashing hard working teachers.
Parents and teachers are becoming united. Don’t underestimate us.
Hi Linda, I’m sorry you saw my post as an attack on teachers. It is not. It is an attack on the ineptitude of those who claim to lead and represent teachers. As I said, teachers deserve better leadership than they have today and I hope I live to see the day when they get that.
I would say that the whole nation needs better leadership. Why do you single out teachers? We need better leaders in business. We need better leaders in industry. We need better leaders in the publishing world. We need better leaders in our political institutions. I have trouble thinking of an institution that is not in need of better leadership. Maybe you work in an organization or an industry with great leadership. Stop picking on teachers. They work a whole lot harder than those guys on Wall Street who pull down seven-figure incomes. They need better leadership too.
Diane, we could use better leadership in many areas but in some areas we need FAR better leadership than others.
Leaders in public education are failing teachers miserably. Teachers are dedicated, hard-working and doing God’s work in my opinion. They deserve better leadership. That doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.
This Ed Week link covering the Wisconsin recall election is telling:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/06/13/35wisconsin.h31.html?tkn=UOTFkJ%2F3OU5LfcVKh5dl5dnr34t%2FQtAYHabJ&cmp=clp-edweek
I am pro-teacher, pro-teachers having a strong union, and hate seeing what happened in Wisconsin. Who among public education leaders is responsible for the recall loss in, of all states, Wisconsin? It’s terrible leadership (again) and teachers deserve so much better.
which bad education leaders are you talking about? Governors? District superintendents?
I repeat: there are bad leader in even sector.
Linda I’m applauding your post!! Honestly I think you have realized where your allies lie and it’s not in those politicians. It’s in the parents.
But I have always known that…I didn’t just realize it. It was the first time I felt the need to defend it here.
What makes a good leader?? If we are lacking quality leaders (and I completely agree we are) what makes a good leader? Why do we lack good leaders in so many areas?
Shouldn’t we at least go directly to the ROOT cause of the problem?
I’m reading a book right now on George Washington. One of Americas greatest leaders in history. WOW. What a difference he is compared to our leaders today.
Who can even define what it means to be a great leader? Let alone pave a way for that to happen. Would it even be politically correct to define great leadership and then seek ways to form great leaders?
To Ed Turley,
Education does not need more punishments and rewards attached to test scores (high-stakes testing). The SAT pressure has created a test-prep industry that distorts the purpose of the SAT. Instead of showing which students are college-ready, the SAT now shows which families can pay the most for tutoring for the SAT.
Please read the report on “Incentives and Test-Based Accountability” by a distinguished panel of 17 social scientists on behalf of the National Research Council, a year ago. It concluded that test-based accountability does not result in education improvement but does result in score inflation, gaming the system an narrowing the curriculum.
So if high-stakes testing produces bad results and not better education, why do you defend it?
Diane
How the SAT is used by colleges is instructive. First, it is used. Second, it is used as one component among a number of factors to make admissions decisions. I support its use as one factor among a number of factors.
Looking at other factors colleges use to make admissions decisions, many are a result of high-stakes testing: High School GPA is the cumulative result of many high-stakes tests. Are you a good or great athlete or, say, a good or great musician? How do we know? It’s generally based on how you performed across many high-stakes games or high-stakes recitals.
Let’s be clear. There are also important admissions factors colleges look at that have nothing to do with high-stakes anything. Do you volunteer? What will you add to college life at our school? Did you grow up under challenging circumstance? And I think including these factors is very important as well.
Colleges are fairly free to choose what factors to use in admissions decisions as well as how much weight they want to put on these factors. The people who run and advise colleges are pretty smart people. Unless you believe the use of SAT scores, high school GPA and athletic- and music performance all result from a corporate conspiracy perpetrated by hedge fund managers, high-stakes testing is a reasonable measure when it is used as one component among others.
Sadly, I live in a California city that, like many communities in this state, has fully embraced the model of shutting down community schools and replacing them with charters. There is no doubt that many of our schools were failing before being shut down, but I strongly disagree with the movement because it destabilizes, disrupts, and cheapens our communities.
My own children’s public elementary school was one of the lucky ones–once failing but saved from shut-down by a group of activist parents who then made a great effort to improve the school. Thanks to parent volunteers, our once-failing school is now one of the best in the city. It still faces larger and larger classroom sizes and teacher cuts every year, but now that the parents in the community have seen what a difference can be made, I believe we will continue to step up and help out as much as we can.
Conversely, we do not have a local public high school now, because ours was shut down and taken over by a well-known charter. All over the city, charters are moving into strip mall locations, closed-down schools and former banks. I am saddened that we see our educational institutions as no more important than, say, a fast food restaurant that can be closed when consumer demand wanes and replaced by the next new thing.
What many reformers ignore is that good change requires a degree of stability. Just as in a musical theme with variations, you have certain constants and certain changeable things, and the combination of the constancy and change (and good composition) makes the piece intriguing, so in education you need such a combination if you are to accomplish anything meaningful.
Suppose a teacher is teaching fifth grade and getting the hang of it. She has all sorts of ideas for things she plans to do better next year. But then, boom: the principal decides to switch her to first grade, just to keep her from getting complacent. So now she has to grapple with a new set of materials. A year goes by, and she has settled in. But now the school has decided to adopt a scripted curriculum. Two years later, it tosses that curriculum for another one. And so on. The changes are so drastic and frequent that the teacher is left scrambling. She doesn’t have a chance to refine her work.
By contrast, a teacher couid teach the same grade (and, largely, the same curriculum) and through that very repetition delve further into the subject matter and the practice. On the surface, it might appear that she’s doing the same thing year after year, but the changes might be more profound than upheavals.
Of course, neither change nor stability is automatically good; all depends on what is changing (or not) and why. We’d be in much better shape if we stopped disparaging the “status quo,” stopped glorifying change, and instead used good judgment to determine what should change and what should not.
Diana, this is so important and thank you for sharing this info. Many parents like me who talk to teachers but do not have that inside info need to know exactly what is going on in the classroom.
Many parents are simply clueless.
I will say this, your administrators are chasing $$$. It could be from grant foundations, it could be from the govt. Add to this the consultants that are now the new gurus of education and notice that teachers are no where to be found.
I prefer local control and NO federal or state intrusion in the schools. However even if we remove the govt. intrusion, you have the grant foundations working around this to come directly in the schools to drive pedagogy, etc.
In TX, they rejected Common Core so what does Duncan do?? Go around the state and directly into the schools. They must have missed the study of the 10th Amendment 🙂
From the Progressive educators pushing fads, the govt. bureaucrats holding schools hostage with $$$ to direct curriculum and more fads, the grant foundations dangling $$ in front of schools in order to make them jump, to politicians who are clueless and think some of this is actually good, how on earth do you fix that monster?
This is why I see school choice as the only option at this point. I sincerely have NO idea how you fix that problem.
Add to all of this the fact that parents have checked out (they know they have no voice) and the many children who come from dysfunctional homes.
I hear about reforming education, but that’s what we’ve been doing for decades and it’s only getting worse. From Goals 2000, to NCLB, to Common Core. Tell me what helped public ed?
Centralizing Ed. isn’t the answer. But we simply give up more control and power to the feds and look where that gets us.
I’ve noticed one thing, schools will sell their souls for the almighty $$$.
Since they will sell out the teachers and the students for $$$ I’d prefer to put that power in the hands of the parents at this point.
I truly trust them more than Bill Gates, Barak Obama, Marc Tucker, Jeb Bush, Michelle Rhee, Chris Christie or any of them.
MOMwithAbrain,
I am not speaking about my administrators. I have a superb principal (at a New York City public school). I am basing my points on past experience, experiences of colleagues, and research.
Exactly, billionaire Bloomberg and his ilk indulge nonstop “creative destructiveness” with other people’s children. NYC BOE imposed reorg after reorg in past 10 yrs, disrupting schools, teachers, kids, families with a singular outcome–public education in NYC was weakened, demoralized, losing its capacities, enabling the argument that “schools and teachers have failed us” and privatization is needed.
I think creative destruction is the philosophy of the Broad Academy. Any one know if this is shared by other groups that use ‘training’ to spread their current philosophy/ed reform?
To Ed…3:34 on July 8th. Thank you earlier for clarifying that you were not bashing teachers. Maybe you can talk us up wherever you go. We certainly need more supporters who are verbalizing their support.
I am confused by your last post. Are you suggesting that educational leaders are the only leaders responsible for the recall failure?
Also, what other leaders (not in education) do you hold accountable for many of the messes we find ourselves in these days in the USA?
On more thing Ed…you do realize many of our leaders are not educators. They are these faux reformer corporate thinking types. If Mayor Bloomberg takes complete control of the public schools, as one example, and appoints his own board of cronies (similar set up in
Chicago) and he has been in charge for TEN years, isn’t he responsible?
Is that the kind of leader you mean, the kind that is failing us? Rhee, Rahm Emanuel, Arne Duncan, Bloomberg, etc?
If they tie our hands and dictate practices such as test prep and data and we are forced to abide by their dogma or be fired, why aren’t they the ones responsible?
Why are the teachers being blamed for all of society’s ills?
I kind of wish your beef was taken directly to the bloviating non-educator bureaucrats who can talk and spin, but in reality they don’t even now what they don’t know.
Quote read in the NY Times…Education is the only industry in our nation that blames failure on the workers and not on the leadership…acting superintendent in Atlanta, serving after the ouster of the old super after the test cheating scandal….Erase your way to the top!
Linda, education leaders are not the only ones responsible for the Wisconsin recall failure however the recall failure is one of many failures for which leaders representing teachers did a terrible job of leading.
Given the huge majority of Americans who love and support teachers, how is it possible that the interests of teachers are being pushed off the map and dismantled? Who is responsible for rallying Americans to support policies that are best for teachers AND students?
I’m focusing on leaders who are supposed to represent the interests of teachers because I see change there as the first and most essential step in turning the current tide. If the people representing teachers are ineffective, it’s going to be impossible to take on those who are truly hostile to teachers and public education.
Replacing the leadership of the NEA and AFT with more effective leaders must be high on the list. What is happening now has happened on their watch. They have been stunningly ineffective and are now sidelined on much of the formulation of education policy in America. They have also lost many of their traditional allies, including many Democrats and moderates.
Another item that must be high on the list: The NEA and AFT need to broker A “New Deal” between educators, schools, politicians, and the American public. This New Deal needs to have some “gives and gets” that are more in-step with the American public.
We can talk about the failures of superintendents, politicians, reformers et al but can we get effective leaders representing teachers and children instead of leadership on whose watch teachers have become a pinata for eveyone to hit with a stick?
With or without great, mediocre or poor leadership, leaders like Bloomberg shoud be held accountable by all citizens: taxpayers, parents, students, etc. He can buy a third term and intimidate many with his billions; he can lie and spin, but this all happened under his watch. Why would it be the only a union to hold him responsible?
Not sure if you are interested in reading this….this does not represent compromise..just the opposite of what you are proposing.
http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2012/06/25/negotiating-with-doom-in-the-schools-debate/
Odd how the Republican governors/mayors (Christie, Walker) are not going after the rights, performance and pay of policeman and fireman. Hmmm..I wonder why.
People can choose to hold Bloomberg responsible if they believe he has been a net-negative in improving NYC schools and their results. I think you’ll find that different people view the evidence differently, but my sense is that the public’s view on Bloomberg’s job performance specifically on NYC schools is negative.
When you reach into the political arena, let’s say Obama and Bloomberg to keep it simple, they are accountable (and held accountable) on many things beyond education. Both men are generally well-liked. Unclear how much of a factor that (or money) will be at re-election time. Plenty of wealthy politicians have lost elections so there is a limit to how much Bloomberg’s money can buy.
I read the information at the link you sent. The author uses a lot of inflammatory rhetoric. “Negotiating with Doom” telegraphs that.
Teachers would be better served if their representatives created the New Deal that I mentioned earlier. It would involve a re-examination of what policies and positions truly must be non-negotiable for teachers and children and which policies and positions can be modified.
I would start with new leadership representing teachers and a plan to win over some or all of the organizations and people who were previously allied with teachers.
Viewing everyone as an opponent and fighting to your dying breath generally results in: 1) fights; 2) death.
With regard to Republicans not going after the rights, performance, and pay of policemen and fireman, that is incorrect. Watch the video at the link below. You won’t have to wait long until Christie completely rips into policemen pay and benefits.
http://www.ihatethemedia.com/chris-christie-tells-police-union-contracts-are-obscene
Thank you for the dialogue and I will watch the video tonight. So many problems, so little time. I am starting to get tired.
Understood. Thank you as well.