A friend just informed me that Bill Cosby has joined the board of Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst. This is a coup for her in her efforts to demean our nation’s teachers and promote the privatization of American public education.
He is clearly uninformed about what she is doing. If you know how to contact him, do so. This is not in character for him.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane
I saw it posted on FB just a few moments ago and was surprised and disappointed as well. Others seemed not to be surprised. Perhaps he has not been following the current trends in education or perhaps sadly he now has a different agenda. Whichever it is, it’s a sad thing.
Do not be surprised. Cosby often on wrong side of education issues: http://www.alternet.org/story/153858/5_biggest_lies_about_the_right-wing_corporate-backed_war_on_our_schools?paging=off
Let’s not forget Tawana Brawley – 1987 Bill and Al
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawana_Brawley_rape_allegations
According to : Redefineed
In a statement emailed to StudentsFirst supporters a few minutes ago, Cosby, a school choice supporter, wrote: “Enough is enough. I’ve seen the statistics on where American students rank in the world. I’ve heard the stories of children being sent off to schools that are nothing more than dropout factories, and our youth end up back out on the street uneducated and unprepared for life. I refuse to sit back and watch this happen. That’s why I’m joining the board of StudentsFirst and will be working alongside you and StudentsFirst members across the nation to put children’s needs first.”
http://www.redefinedonline.org/2012/09/bill-cosby-joins-michelle-rhees-group/
According to Education Week, StudentsFirst named other board members today, including Connie Chung, Joel Klein, Roland Martin and Jalen Rose.
Now, I wonder if Bill knows about Michelle’s admitted child abuse and Kevin’s predilection for 16 year-old female students. That alone would keep me at arm’s length. Ignorance is no excuse. You would need less than 5 minutes on Google to find out about their sleazy past. Shower time.
Her previous board consisted of David Coleman, the architect of the Common Core standards, and two others, both involved in writing the CC standards.
Diane
I just got a College Board/AP mass email from Coleman, and the unfortunate other souls in the faculty room had to listen to me rant again.
Interesting statement. Leaving aside the lies about our students and schools, nothing Cosby is reported to have written actually explains why charters are the answer. This is just more propaganda.
I was so over Cosby about 25 years ago.
“Cosby, a school choice supporter, wrote: ‘Enough is enough. . . StudentsFirst members across the nation to put children’s needs first.’”
RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTT!!!!!, Bill, get your facts and information RIGHT before spouting off about something you know little about. Get it RIGHT! Is that asking too much?????
Actually Bill Cosby was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a 32 year old woman in 2004. She tried to bring a criminal case against him in 2005, but police declined to file charges. She brought civil charges against him. Her attorneys found 10 other women who also claimed to have been drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby in the past. Nine were listed anonymously in the court documents, one made the accusations publicly. The court documents are here:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/bill-cosbys-prior-bad-acts
The LA Times covered the story, including the settlement Cosby reached with the woman, here:
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/nov/09/news/wk-cosby9
Cosby settled the 2005 case for an undisclosed amount, the alleged victim of the assault signed a non-disclosure agreement, so no other details of the case emerged. But People magazine covered the aftermath and interviewed three other women who claimed they had been drugged by Cosby and assaulted. People also reported that Cosby had paid off several women who had made these accusations in the past against Cosby.
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20059561,00.html
I have two things to say about this:
First, Cosby fits right in with Kevin Johnson, Rhee’s husband, who himself has at least two accusations of sexual misconduct lodged against him (one by a minor.)
Second, how dare anybody with so many accusations leveled against him in the past lecture people about bad behavior, as Cosby has been known to do?
I tweeted Bill about being judged by the company he keeps, no wonder I never received a response. It appears that birds of a feather flock together. Both of these guys are abhorrent.
I remember the scandal. I remember Camille standing by his side and everyone wondering why she did so. It didn’t get much play here on the east coast. Dang, 10 women that’s sick, Kevin has three minors. That too is sick. But you know they can get in the schoolhouse door. That’s just not right. If you see them together, call 911 just to be on the safe side. Someone’s Dad may thank you
Thanks for the chuckle. I’ll remember the good advice.
Diane
Rhee is building celebrity power to push her destructive agenda. Celebrity names give credibility to her factless claims and throw a smokescreen around her blunders. We can answer this sordid gambit if we publish page-size advocacy-s in newspapers and online: “Michelle Rhee is dead wrong, and so is Bill Cosby…” followed by info cited here on what she has done.
No, no. Not Bill Cosby! I’m truly disappointed. Terrible state of affairs.
I got that email this morning from Students-first (Just unsubscribed) I can’t believe he is backing them 😦 We need some celebrities backing true reform!!
We have Matt Damon. Other than him, we are stuck with lowly scholars and experts rather than important celebrities (*sarcasm*).
Maybe he has dementia? Rheepugnant!
We have our work cut out for us, for sure — helping people understand the realities of the attacks on public education. But thanks to the Chicago Teachers Union, some very important things are much more clear than they were before September 10.
The coalitions coming together to show “Won’t Back Down” are a symptom; the fact that the Democratic party (and the GOP) showed this at their convention, and that Rahm Emanuel was a keynote speaker there, and that Arne Duncan continues to be Obama’s Secretary of Education, makes it impossible for us to deny that the leadership of that party is NOT our friend.
BUT, and this is a BIG BUT: WE are far stronger now in this war than we were before September 10. Because of the undeniable strength, solidarity, and parent/community support the CTU organized and shows the world, people have to listen to them (ie, to us) in ways that were not happening before. Because of the CTU, we know what a democratic union can and should look like. And because of the CTU WE feel stronger and more self-confident (just as we teachers try to help our children become). We are finding our voice, and others’ ears have been opened. We are also learning how widespread our opposition is — that it includes leaders of the Democratic party many of us may have thought friends before. We have one another (and there are LOTS of us), we have the natural allies we need to make stronger among the 99%, and we have the leadership and example of the CTU. That’s pretty awesome!
And the CTU has given us our manifesto: http://www.ctunet.com/quest-center/research/the-schools-chicagos-students-deserve
Yes, Kipp, thank you for this post. You said it much better than I could. I read this document over the weekend and I was so proud of CTU and my profession. However, I felt saddened that this didn’t come from the organization I have been paying dues to for over 25 years…the NEA. I am also baffled by the democratic leadership. They have used and abused us, but no more. We have to connect with our families, which we do everyday. They have money, but we have people. It is time to take back our schools.
This is surprising since Bill Cosby always seemed to be a friend of teachers. When I was a student at Teachers College Columbia his son was also a student. Cosby was at our graduation. He filmed a series of his at the college,often in our cafeteria. I remember one episode of “The Cosby Show” when his son Theo was graduating NYU. At this “graduation” Cosby stood up and said “I just graduated from Teachers College”. Wasn’t there also some scandal after he received an honorary degree that he put himself as Bill Cosby ED.D. On the credits of his show? It always seemed he wished he was a teacher. Now to turn against us, I don’t know what to say
Write him.
Diane
I believe Bill Cosby has an earned doctor of education degree from UMass Amherst.
I didn’t know Cos dropped out of high-school. This is an interesting read/timeline of events:
http://www.who2.com/blog/2010/12/from-dropout-to-doctorate-a-bill-cosby-educational-timeline
It also addresses his busy schedule and questions how he had time to complete his M.A. and Ed.D.
I wonder what Dr. Poussaint from Harvard would say about his latest venture. Remember he was a consultant on The Cosby Show and a noted psychiatrist who specialized in raising Af-AM children.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_F._Poussaint.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_F._Poussaint
If it makes anybody feel better, we have Matt Damon on our side. And he’s better looking and smarter anyway. : )
Agreed!
Diane Ravitch
Bill Cosby showed his upper middle class bias a few years ago when he held events charging low income African-American parents with being responsible for their poverty and for the effects it has on their children.
For a different view, see this video of a talk given by Karran Harper Royal, a leader in Parents Across America, at the SOS conference held a month ago:
How [some] African Americans and Civil Rights Leaders Got on the Wrong Side of the Ed Reform Movement
Unions should support The Chicago teachers by having a “RED FLU” day. Everyone gets “sick” on the same day. (The police do it.)…and sending money to their Solidarity Fund.
More Daddy- Knows- Best from Mr. Huxster Huxtable; tough love, school privatization style. Since when did making it in the entertainment industry equate with boot strapping one’s way to the top with education? Oh yeah, since American image over substance became the real role model for America’s youth. Gatsby’s uncut books on the bookshelf.