Mitt Romney likes to boast that Massachusetts is number 1 in the nation in academics, and he is right. Massachusetts is the highest scoring state on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in math and reading, in fourth and eighth grades.
Now, as we know, Mitt is very anti-union. His educational platform excoriates the bad teachers’ unions, that allegedly protect bad teachers and drive down educational quality.
But, wait a minute! Massachusetts has a completely unionized teaching force. How can this be?
Did anyone ever tell Romney that the highest scoring states in the nation on NAEP–Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey–have strong teachers unions and collective bargaining?
Did anyone tell ALEC, which has model legislation to bust teachers unions?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m sure Mr. Pinocchio would say that it’s just a coincidence.
An did anyone tell him that the best performing systems in the world have strong – and unionised – teacher unions?
The man’s too busy practicing the Ronald Reagan head-tilt to hear anything people tell him.
Jon..He has to practice his head tilt and aw-shucks laughter. If he didn’t he’d sound like a kazoo whenever he moved.
Isn’t it true that MA is showing success lately because they had the sense to invest in early childhood education about a dozen years ago and not because of rheecent rheeformy folderol? Isn’t it true that MA abandoned its excellent, independently developed state standards in favor of the CCSS, which isn’t as good?
Yes and yes
Massachusetts reform plan adopted in 1993. Doubled spending, invested in early childhood education. Had nothing to do with charter, vouchers, test-based evaluations or Romney
Diane Ravitch
Massachusetts also had an unusually competent state board and philanthropic sector which proposed workable reforms during the Clinton administration when the “peace dividend” was fresh and the housing bubble was blossoming.
Even now, the Massachusetts achievement gap remains problematic. Justice Greaney was outspoken that Hancock was not brought to a proper end on behalf of urban schoolchildren. What was good enough for the Hancock majority does not appear to be good enough for the UN/OHCHR/CERD.
“In the amicus curiae brief prepared for us by Goodwin Procter, LLP, Mass Insight Education, along with the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education and Associated Industries of Massachusetts, agreed with the plaintiffs in Hancock v. Driscoll that students in some urban school districts were not receiving the education they are entitled to under the state constitution.”
Yes, they expect to make money “reforming” those schools. It’s business.
Diane
Dear Dr. Ravitch,
I need help with your litmus test for good business versus bad business. Did I get these right?
Good Examples:
– Dr. Deming donates his time to discus quality with superintendents?
– Non-educator volunteers help Montgomery County MD Schools adopt practices that empower teachers?
Bad Examples:
– Business Roundtable funds pilot value added (even after teachers express support)?
– Sir Michael Barber or anything associated with McKinsey?
– Anything associated with Bill Gates?
How about philanthropies and civil rights lawyers? Is the ACLU naughty or nice when it alleges a human rights whitewash regarding inaction on the achievement gap? Was Judge Manning duped into declaring “academic genocide” in North Carolina?
How are judges to tell the helpers from the harmers? Should amicus briefs come with warning labels?
“First, do no harm” would be a good guideline for all involved. How could such a guideline be enforced?
How does the NEA tell the naughty from the nice? They had a partnership with Ken Kay and P21…
Aren’t those NAEP scores likely related to high per capita income?
Wasn’t the Massachusetts improvement related to Sandra Stotsky’s promotion of standards that promoted learning and thinking rather than teaching to the test?
Folks who care about public education would want to know the likely affect of policy changes on the public education doomsday clock.
And if anyone can make a case for replicating the Massachusetts success, I know a State Senate Education Chair who wants to hear from you.
Here’s my question for Mitt: Is RttT a program worth borrowing money from China? (Cf: By using billions of dollars in federal funding to strong arm states to adopt national standards of dubious quality, the Obama administration has raised federal intrusion into education to new heights …)
This link should work:
By using billions of dollars in federal funding to strong arm states to adopt national standards of dubious quality, the Obama administration has raised federal intrusion into education to new heights, transferring control over the nation’s classrooms to anonymous federal bureaucrats, special interest lobbies, and insider experts, ultimately rendering parents and taxpayers powerless.
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLRHZEhGWY8
Good point Diane. I came from NY with a strong teacher’s union and now teach in NC with NO teacher’s union (illegal for state employees to unionize….don’t get me started). It’s true that the unions protect all teachers, even the bad ones. But while there is a bad apple in every profession, the overwhelming majority of teachers I have worked with over the last 25 years have been over-achievers who tend to over work themselves and are not happy with doing anything less than a stellar job. The problem with not having a union is that there is no advocate for the teacher. I teach an elective and the practice of giving more classes to elective teachers is not only pervasive, but accepted. Class sizes are not capped (they may say they are, but school systems consistently get waivers to go way over the cap), number of classes taught in a day are not capped, planning time is not protected and regularly taken away with mandatory meetings or extra duties such as being asked ( and by asked, I mean told) to cover a class for which no sub has been found ,and of course, at no extra pay. Planning time is routinely split into segments. For example, one teacher may get an hour, while another teacher gets 2 half-hour segments and they call it equal.
This all adds up to teacher burn-out at an overwhelming rate. By protecting the working conditions of teachers, you are protecting the learning environment of students. Notice I said nothing about salary. Most people think this is the number one issue, putting pressure on school boards and states to increase salary, but this is not the case I have found. Many of my 25 years were part-time while I was raising my children, so I’m trying to hang in to get a decent retirement. Since I moved to the south, my job has become so physically and emotionally exhausting I’m not sure I can stick it out much longer.
I did. Have you?
Did @MittRomney know the highest scoring states re #NAEP #MA #CT & #NJ– have strong teachers unions & collective bargaining? Now Mitt knows
Eric,
I think you’ve “got him” on the “borrowing money from China” for for this…and a lot more of his nonsense in RttT and George’s NCLB.Nice going!
I just spent this past weekend in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. Visiting several Autumn festivals I noticed private and charter schools had set up tents in every festival/fair I attended. Right next to the honey and jewelry dealers these ‘privateers’ were peddling their wares. I even saw one at a tag sale!
The good news is that they all were sitting there with no one at their tent.
Wonder if they were unionized Mitt?
What does it say when you need to sit in a tent and peddle the virtue of your school?