We have visited the travails of the Huntsville, Alabama, schools before.
This is where a Broad-trained superintendent decided that recalcitrant kids should be sent off to live in a teepee until they learned to behave.
Then we learned that he bought 22,000 laptops for the district.
And this district laid off 150 experienced teachers to save money, but has given a contract to Teach for America to bring in rookie teachers.
Now we hear from a parent about life for his child in the Huntsville schools, where change is a fact of life. .
A Broad-trained superintendent in North Carolina left Michelle Rhee’s team and was hired by a Tea Party majority of the local school board in Wake County, North Carolina that wanted to eliminate the district’s successful desegregation policy, even if it meant resegregation of the schools. That board was ousted last fall. The superintendent has stayed on, and the choice plan now in effect seems likely to undo years of work to avoid resegregation. The schools of Wake County were lauded (before the Tea Party takeover) as a model of desegregation by Gerald Grant in his excellent book, Hope and Despair in the American City: Why There Are No Bad Schools in Raleigh.
Chris Cerf in New Jersey was trained by Broad. So was Deborah Gist in Rhode Island, John White in Louisiana, J.C. Brizard in Chicago, and John Covington in Michigan. when Philadelphia picked a new superintendent recently, the two finalists were both Broadies. And there are many more. Read about them here.
Now that the Broad Foundation “trains” so many new superintendents, doesn’t the public have a right to know what the Broad Academy is teaching its students?
The Broad Superintendents Academy is not certified, has no state approvals, is not subject to any outside monitoring, yet it “trains” people who then take leadership roles in urban districts and in state education departments. Many were never educators.
What were they taught? What principles and values were inculcated? On what research are their lessons based? How valid is the research to which they are exposed?
Inquiring minds want to know.
If the public has a right to information about teacher performance, doesn’t the public have a right to know who is training public school superintendents and what they are taught and how valid is the information and research they are given and whether they were exposed to different points of view?
By the way, the Broad Foundation just added new members to its board of directors. Here is the new lineup:
Officers:
The Honorable Joel I. Klein, Chair
CEO, Educational Division and Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman, News Corporation
Former Chancellor, New York City Department of Education
Barry Munitz, Vice Chair
Trustee Professor, California State University, Los Angeles
Dan Katzir, Secretary/Treasurer
Senior Advisor, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
Members:
Richard Barth
Chief Executive Officer, KIPP Foundation
Becca Bracy Knight
Executive Director, The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems
Jean-Claude Brizard
Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Public Schools
Harold Ford Jr.
Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
Former U.S. Congressman, Tennessee
Louis Gerstner, Jr.
Retired Chairman and CEO, IBM Corporation
Wendy Kopp
Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Teach For America
Paul Pastorek
Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Counsel and Corporate Secretary, EADS North America
Former Superintendent of Education, State of Louisiana
Michelle Rhee
Founder and CEO, StudentsFirst
Former Chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools
Margaret Spellings
President and Chief Executive Officer, Margaret Spellings and Company
Former U.S. Secretary of Education
Andrew L. Stern
Former President, Service Employees International Union
Ronald O. Perelman Senior Fellow, Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law and Public Policy, Columbia University
Lawrence H. Summers
Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University
President Emeritus, Harvard University
Kenneth Zeff
Chief Operating Officer, Green Dot Public Schools
Mortimer Zuckerman
Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, U.S. News & World Report
Publisher, New York Daily News
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Please read the story linked above and look at the pictures. This is why business minded people who have little concern for developing human beings should NOT be involved in the management of our schools. This story breaks my heart….they just don’t get it and they never will.
http://www.geekpalaver.com/2012/07/19/an-absence-of-compassion-in-the-face-of-change/
Just makes me cry. That wonderful teacher found that little boy. I saved the picture and it will go in my inspiration folder for my “overwhelmed” days.
Is it possible to find out how many of those listed have taught, how many years taught, what their educational degree status is, and then the same for the instructors who “train” the superintendents and then the same for the superintendents.
If The Broad Academy was so great you’d think they’d be tooting their own horns by listing above information proudly.
Oh, wait, you say, most haven’t taught, most only have an undergrad degree or less and none in pedagogy and . . . ?
Oh, stupid me, that’s right none of those things matter to be an “educational leader”.
And it is the same circle of people everywhere…Rhee, Kopp, Barth, Klein….do they ever include a REAL educator….it is mass group think and their priorities are not the priorities of parents, students and teachers.
“The Honorable Joel I. Klein”??? What makes him honorable? Because he made a mess of NYC schools? Because he played games on his Blackberry when parents tried to get his attention at public hearings? Because he defended Rupert Murdoch?
I am reminded of the story about Robert Moses, the autocrat who built so many of NY State’s highways, bridges and public facilities. Through the years, Moses received scores of honorary doctorates. One honorary degree was for “Humane Letters.” Moses wondered about this one, saying, “I’ve never written a humane letter in my life.”
Has Joel I Klein done anything honorable in the last 10 years?
Parents Across America wrote a Guide to the Broad Academy and its training programs that is posted here: – http://goo.gl/x8i6R
Sadly, Mr. Broad’s financial clout has served to weaken well grounded, intellectual studies in contemporary art and culture as well. It seems there is an interesting comparison to make in his ‘rescue’ of LA MOCA and his ‘work’ in education:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/arts/design/hurdles-grow-at-the-museum-of-contemporary-art-los-angeles.html
Sadly, Mr. Broad’s interference (support) at LA MOCA has altered the museum’s direction and weakened the intellectual integrity of the institution’s work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/arts/design/hurdles-grow-at-the-museum-of-contemporary-art-los-angeles.html
The similarities to his ‘work’ in education is stunning.
Checking the names you’ll find both Democrats and Republicans.
I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it… both sides have figured out how to share the spoils of the takeover of public education.
This is the reason why education reform is not being discussed to any extent in this year’s campaign. Don’t be surprised to see Duncan and NY commissioner King join this list of shame.
Folks, they only way to survive this mess is to educate the parents of those we teach. We need to act like the Swamp Fox, attack when they least expect it, fight on our own turf, and be loyal to the cause.
Arne Duncan was on the Board of the The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems Board of Directors under was was appointed Secretary of Education in February 2009.
He has had close ties with the Broad Foundation.
http://gothamschools.org/2009/03/11/eli-broad-describes-close-ties-to-klein-weingarten-duncan/
The quotes below are from the Broad Foundation 2009-2010 Mission Statement
Click to access 101-2009.10%20annual%20report.pdf
comments about Arne Duncan include these:
Page 5
The election of President Barack Obama and his appointment of Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, as the U.S. secretary of education, marked the pinnacle of hope for our work in education reform. In many ways, we feel the stars have finally aligned. With an agenda that echoes our decade of investments—charter schools, performance pay for teachers, accountability, expanded learning time and national standards—the Obama administration is poised to cultivate and bring to fruition the seeds we and other reformers have planted.
Page 10
Prior to becoming U.S. secretary of education, Arne Duncan was CEO of Chicago Public Schools, where he hosted 23 Broad Residents. Duncan now has five Broad Residents and alumni working with him in the U.S. Department of Education.
Page 20
2007: Encouraged by the progressive leadership of Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan, The Broad Foundation invests $4.5 million for Chicago Public Schools to launch a new data system to streamline its human resource systems.
Page 22
2008: The Broad Center names an independent board of directors chaired by New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein and including Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan (later named U.S. secretary of education), retired IBM Corporation Chairman and CEO Louis Gerstner, and former Harvard President Larry Summers (later named assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council).
Page 22
2009: Broad Superintendents Academy graduate Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana is appointed by President Barack Obama as assistant secretary for elementary and
secondary education for the U.S. Department of Education.
Page 23
2009: Three members of The Broad Foundation executive staff are loaned to the U.S. Department of Education, led by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The “loaned executives” assist in the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as it relates to distribution of education funds.
Page 23
2009: The Aldine Independent School District outside Houston wins the 2009 Broad Prize. Their win is announced at the U.S. Capitol by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Finalists Broward County Public Schools, Fla.; Gwinnett County Public Schools, Ga.; the Long Beach Unified School District, Calif.; and Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas are celebrated in remarks given by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller and other members of Congress.
The Board of Directors listed for 2009-2010 in this document are still on the Board as listed in Diane’s article.
The photos of the teacher and child are heartbreaking. This teacher is the very teacher we should be lauding and providing with every support and resource conceivable, so that she has all she needs to share her talent. Instead, they treat her with such disdain, such disrespect. And while children in another district will gain, the loss for the kids left behind is so sad. We must fight back against the hijacking of education by jerks and idiots. I love how hard this dad is trying.
I will tell you those two pictures broke my heart. I couldn’t stop looking at them and when the dad kept referring to him as “my boy” I was crying. What a wonderful, caring, beautiful and intelligent father.
This is what the reformers are not prepared to deal with.
Rratto above is correct. What would a town, city or district do if they were confronted by parents like him every day?
School boards that KNOW about the Broad Academy don’t care, and in fact some of them WANT these cretins in charge of school districts in order to destroy them from within.
Case in point: My old school district in Washoe County, Nevada. Its last superintendent, Heath Morrison, an Eli Broad alum, bought himself a national superintendent of the year award because he cooked the numbers for the graduation rates in Washoe County by changing the formula for calculating dropouts. He went around and claimed graduation rates shot up because of his “reforms.” The minute he got his award, he moved on to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. But it gets better. His successor, Pedro Martinez, is an old crony of Arne Duncan’s in Chicago and is an accountant by trade. Unlike Morrison, who at least taught four years before working his way up through the administrative ranks in Maryland before moving to Nevada and then North Carolina, Martinez has NO teaching experience whatsoever. None. Zip. He was hired on WCSD by Morrison as a deputy superintendent but rumor has it was forced out when he couldn’t score enough federal money for the district. Martinez then went on to Clark County School District as a deputy superintendent of INSTRUCTION though not having taught a single day in his life. He was a laughingstock there and should have been run out of town, but instead, he is now the new superintendent of Washoe County School District despite the fact the appointment violates Nevada statutes. He’s Eli Broad Academy, too. Another person on the executive cabinet, one James Masias, is a Broad Residency alum. That one is the chief financial officer at WCSD.
I’d watch very closely the shenanigans going on in Nevada. Teachers in Washoe County were under tremendous stress under Morrison, and it’s bound to get much, much worse under Martinez. The Board of Trustees should be recalled for its sheer folly in putting in a brazenly unqualified person for the job.
Martinez was a package deal here Clark County–came along with former Superintendent Dwight Jones who bailed on his contract in March supposedly to take care of his sick mother in Texas, but he moved back to Colorado. Fishy? We think so. The fact that they spent $150 million MORE in purchased expenditures their first year than had been spent the year before but then laid off teachers (we lost a librarian and counselor) speaks volumes about priorities. I believe–but cannot get an answer–that the money was spent on standardized testing, Springboard, etc.
Pedro Martinez was one of two Broadies up for Superintendent of Philadelphia schools. It was obvious he was a stand-in for the candidate the state School Reform Commission really wanted because he was so clearly unqualified. They chose the other Broadie, William Hite from Prince Georges County in Maryland, for $300,000 per year. (The Mayor of Philadelphia’s salary is $186,000 per year.) Watch Philadelphia to see how Broadie graduates operate!
You are so right. Pedro was never truly in the running for the Philly job. If he had been offered it, he would have taken it. Instead, WCSD is stuck with him. The Board of Trustees approved Pedro’s four-year, $238,000 contract. Not bad for being totally unqualified for the job.
Nevada is in horrible straits right now, and it’s schools are just about done for.
I meant “its,” of course.
Mayor Daley and now Mayor Rahm have used the failed corporate business plan to govern the Chicago Public Schools. With criticism of having a CEO of schools being a corporate type, Rahm hired Brizard! Brizard is an “educator” but Rahm keeps same failed corporate business plan in place. Running a solely top down organization on coercion and no trust, leads to a dysfunctional education system.
Why would Rahm select Brizard to be CEO of schools, remember he had a 95% no confidence vote from his teachers in Rochester, NY when he was at the helm there? The Chicago Teacher’s Union strike authorization vote was 91%, so seems Brizard fails again.
The placing of Brizard as a CEO of schools, works for privatization supporters, since their corporate plan of starving poor neighborhood schools of needed personnel, wrap around services The hammer is the tests, which will be one of the factors to dismiss teachers and close schools. (though plenty of underperforming charters are not closed)
CPS has been planning to close 80 plus schools this coming year!
Brizard said publicly he can’t transform schools! So CPS will pay some organization to do it! So, what does he get paid to do? Seems like trash a school district!!!
—–
Juan Rangel, who operates one of the largest charter networks in Chicago, who is the educational advisor to Mayor Rahm, has another initiative called Metropolitan Leadership Institute, which requires its participants to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA)! These folks hate transparency!
Broad needs to be exposed like ALEC, Koch Brothers and Teach for America, to name a few.
One question…Why is Joel Klein considered ‘honorable’ :)?
We need a NEW flag in this country: Red, GREEN and blue!
Wake up, everybody: We have TWO enemies, but one pretends
to be our friend.
“The Broad Superintendents Academy is not certified, has no state approvals, is not subject to any outside monitoring, yet it “trains” people who then take leadership roles in urban districts and in state education departments. Many were never educators.”
Diane, I would like to know exactly how this is legal ? In NYC, in an effort to insure a student’s safety, a licensed paraprofessional is legally forbidden to be alone in a classroom without a state certified
and licensed teacher. How is it possible then, or even conceivable, that individuals with no real education in the field they are rapidly transforming, who are “trained” in an institution that has no credibility, are given power of thousands and thousands of children and their teachers by various states ?
I cannot for the life of me understand how this is legally possible ? Surely there are laws being broken here, no ?
The Broad Academy has no legal standing and does not award any degrees. But what it does have is a powerful political network.
Diane
Broad is quite powerful, it gets worse when the Gates Foundation also gives your school district a “prize”. Pittsburgh had the fake success story of Mark Roosevelt, (data manipulation) followed by Linda Lane who are both Broad graduates. It is so sad to see the deterioration and the chaos. The school board just layed off 270 teachers and not ONE administrator. They are actually hiring more and just took on another Broad resident. The district has dwindled to less than 25K kids and we have 700+ administrators, who got raises and bonuses the same day. It is on the PPS website if you have 45 minutes to find it. Nothing in the news except for more school closures and teachers getting furloughed,it is depressing. I wish a single reporter would ask how this is justified. I am certain I have commited gramatical errors writing this. I want to make it clear~ I am not a teacher, I am a parent.
Broad is quite powerful, it gets worse when the Gates Foundation also gives your school district a “prize”. Pittsburgh had the fake success story of Mark Roosevelt, (data manipulation) followed by Linda Lane who are both Broad graduates. It is so sad to see the deterioration. The school board just layed off 270 teachers and not ONE administrator. They are actually hiring more and just took on another Broad resident. The district has dwindled to less than 25K kids and we have 700+ administrators, if that is not insane enough many of them got raises, promotions and bonuses on the same agenda. It is on the PPS website if you have 45 minutes to find it. Nothing in the news except for more school closures and teachers getting furloughed,it is depressing. I wish a single reporter would ask how this is justified.
I am certain I have commited gramatical errors writing this. I want to make it clear~ I am not a teacher, I am a parent.
Updating the post – We got rid of Tony Tata in NC – at least from the NC School Board. We ousted him. Our ‘wonderful’ new GOP Governor has appointed him the DOT Secretary. LOL
At least he is out of education. Be grateful for that.