I posted the previous report about a meeting at the White House with Pennsylvania leaders because I thought you should read it. I felt frustrated reading it. I met at the White House in June 2010 with Roberto Rodriguez, Rahm Emanual and Melody Barnes, who was then the head of the Domestic Policy Council. I said all the same things. All they wanted to talk about was how Race to the Top would fix everything, the $1 billion they planned to spend on merit pay, and the sure success of tying teacher evaluation to test scores. I told them how disheartened teachers were by their whole approach, that they had aligned themselves with the GOP agenda. I warned that they would lose the 2010 elections if they didn’t get a different agenda. I told them that what they were doing would not succeed and would have terrible consequences. They didn’t listen.
The issue with the Obama team is whether they do anything differently.
Now they are pushing Race to the Top down to the district level. They refuse to accept that Race to the Top is no different from what the GOP would do, except for vouchers. I am glad that Larry Feinberg made that point.
The fact that you met with the “office of outreach” shows that this was a meeting intended to give you the impression that they were listening.
What matters is not that they invited you to the White House. Not that they heard you out.
What matters is will they do anything differently?
What signal, if any, will the White House give to show that they understand that Race to the Top is an extension of NCLB? It is NCLB on steroids.
If a Republican President had proposed Race to the Top, exactly as it is, Democrats would have fought it, made the President modify it, insisted on Congressional hearings before letting it go forward, demanded evidence before it was implemented.
None of that happened.
When I met Arne Duncan in the fall of 2009, just the two of us, I asked him why he was going around the country to campaign for RTTT with Newt Gingrich. His answer: “Because the President told me to.”
My advice: Judge them and all politicians by what they do, not what they say.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Empty chair for PRESIDENT!Because no other choice measures up
A year or more ago I realized the Dems were hellbent on pushing RttT during Obama’s re-election. From a purely political perspective, it has got to be the worst strategy the Dems have ever had. The race is very close and it is possible Obama will lose. I wonder why he has abandoned teachers and parents. I hate to criticize him. But I wish he would remove Duncan and restrain Emanuel in Chicago.
Yes, imagine what it would be like now if Obama had stuck to his base. If he had been their for Wisconsin….if he had supported the Chicago teachers….imagine where we would be if he supported workers, teachers, the everyday people. I guess it wouldn’t be so close right now if he hadn’t forgotten all of us. I am disgusted, completely and totally disgusted with Obama, Duncan and the whole lot of them.
Obama should spend a morning at Sidwell Friends and then follow up with an unannounced visit to a test prep charter. Then he should hang his head in shame.
Typo…there not their….I wish for an edit feature.
Diane, I would say that 95+% of us in the room were equally frustrated. We pointed to your advocacy many times and asked why they weren’t listening and acting on the evidence. We asked tough questions and made strong pleas. Of course you are right that this was hosted by the Office of Public Engagement — but I don’t discount any opportunity to go and have our case heard by these folks. (We can’t stop trying, and we’ve got to take every chance we get.) They got an earful from the grassroots!
And your point is right on: we will be judging these politicians by what they do.
I also think it’s terribly important to bring these opportunities home and use them to keep spreading the message. You do it in such an amazing way on the national level with this blog, your scholarship, your speaking, and all you do. My interest in going to these White House events is not only to speak up and be heard, but to use that invitation back in the grassroots to amplify our message and build our movement.
It’s my training as a historian that actually gives me hope when this seems so frustrating, even pointless, and people are getting cynical (there was a lot of that in the room, too): we know that change happens, it often happens very slowly, persistence and passion matter, individual voices matter, and collective action matters. Being in the minority and speaking truth to power has never been easy … but we can’t give up.
Thank you for everything you do.
Jessie
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Jessie B. Ramey, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh
yinzercation.wordpress.com
“HEAR HEAR!” Diane perhaps you can answer this; As the Secretary of Education, does Duncan not have the responsibility to review/investigate/assess the policies and principles put forth?
They are his policies.
They don’t work.
They have no evidence to support them.
He is the last one likely to assess them.
Where is Congress?
I just got a reply from The White House this week for something I sent them many months ago. (The timing of their reply is interesting.) Here is one part of it:
“My Administration has made historic investments to strengthen our education system, including our Race to the Top program—the most ambitious education reform our country has seen in generations. Race to the Top focuses on what is best for our students by engaging state and local leaders and educators in turning around our lowest performing schools, developing and rewarding effective teachers, adopting meaningful assessments, and tracking the progress of our students.”
Here’s another part of the email (I can email it it you Diane if you wish.)
“My Administration has also put forward a robust plan to strengthen and transform the teaching profession through a series of investments to help States and districts pursue bold reforms at every stage of the profession. This includes attracting top-tier talent and preparing educators for success, creating career ladders with opportunities for advancement and competitive compensation, evaluating and supporting the development of teachers and principals, and getting the best educators into the classrooms of the students who need them most.”
Read “The Audacity of Hope”. It’s all there around page 133.
So…what happens to Race to the Top and the NCLB waivers if Obama is not reelected? Since this policy is solely attached to his administration and has totally bypassed other branches of government and formal legislation, does RTTT go away if Obama goes away? The third year of the grant in Miami will be next year, will we still receive funds? Will the states inact expensive, burdensome, and invalid teacher evaluation systems for their NCLB waiver and then have it canceled by a Republican administration? My understanding is that Mitt Romney has praised RTTT, but it still poses an interesting question.
My assumption is that commitments were made by the federal government, the money was allocated and authorized, and will be paid out. Let’s see if Romney speaks about it. Sadly, the Race to the Top is well aligned with the GOP agenda.
Diane