Edushyster Takes Down the New York Times

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1. jackwhelan says:

   September 19, 2012 at 11:53 am

   I think he does Nocera a disservice by putting him with the others. Nocera has been a refreshing dissenter at the NY Times on matters of corporate reform, and as his 9/17 piece on “How to Fix Schools” points out, “The teachers are fighting for the things industrial unions have always fought for: seniority, favorable work rules and fierce resistance to performance measures. City Hall is fighting to institute reforms no top-performing country has ever seen fit to use, and which probably won’t make much difference if they are instituted.”

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   • dianerav says:

     September 19, 2012 at 11:57 am

     Nocera redeemed himself with that column. Although I thought the line you quoted was not so positive as CTU was fighting for much more than self-interest In the past, though, he has gone along with the faux reform crowd So, Nocera’s enlightenment should give us hope.

     Diane

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     • jackwhelan says:

       September 19, 2012 at 5:26 pm

       Yes, I think we get our hope wherever we can find it, but it’s interesting that in the column edushyster links to, Nocera says of himself:

       “As regular readers know, I have been somewhat skeptical of the reform movement. For those disadvantaged students who get into a good charter school or land in a program that can help them succeed, that’s wonderful. In the grand scheme of things, though, the number of students who get that kind of attention is small. There really isn’t much evidence that introducing choice and competition — an important rationale for charter schools — has forced the big-city public schools to improve. Until somebody figures out how to create reforms that work for all, and not just the lucky few, American public education will continue to suffer. The reform movement hasn’t come close to that goal.”

       I’ll take somewhat skeptical from anybody at the NYT any day. He is no Nick Kristof.

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2. seattleducation2011 says:

   September 19, 2012 at 12:54 pm

   Thanks for the link. I love this writer!

   Dora

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3. Gail says:

   September 19, 2012 at 8:56 pm

   I think Nocera has been perhaps more a fan of Joel Klein, who he seemed pretty smitten with, than of ed reform in general. My one quibble with this column is his comment that teachers used to have status similar to that of other white collar professionals. I can’t imagine when he imagines that golden age was.

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   • dianerav says:

     September 19, 2012 at 9:06 pm

     How can one separate Klein from the bad ideas of ed reform? Testing makes everyone smarter. Accountability produces higher test scores. Closing schools makes better schools. And lots of other really bad ideas.
     There was no golden age. But on the other hand, this is the worst of all times for teachers.

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4. faige says:

   September 20, 2012 at 12:05 am

   Thanks for this link. Just subscribed to his blog. Satire one of the best forms of honest social criticism. So much fun to read.

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