Yesterday I was on an NPR program interviewed by Michel Martin. I followed Arne Duncan, Margaret Spellings, Michelle Rhee, and Alberto Carvalho, the Miami superintendent.
Duncan said that Race to the Top did not require teaching to the test. Spellings praised NCLB.
Carvalho explained why he tried to help schools get better instead of closing them down. He said in several cases, he replaced the principal and made other changes, and the school improved.
Rhee took exception. She said that leaders should not tolerate failing schools. And she used this odd metaphor. She said–and I paraphrase–“if you take 10 shirts to a dry cleaner, and they scorch seven of them, why would you go back to that cleaners?”
So a school is like a dry cleaners, and children are like shirts. Teachers scorch the shirts.
Last month, at the GOP convention, Jeb Bush said that choosing schools was like buying milk. Some people like whole milk, some prefer 2% or 1%, or buttermilk or chocolate milk.
What metaphor will we hear next? The school is like a car-wash where the parents pick up their kids at the end of the line? Who makes up these silly lines? Is it some high-priced PR firm?
Being last, I had to try my best to set the record straight. So much to do, so little time.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
No discussion of metaphor is complete without acknowledgement of Dr. Sherman Dorn’s work, on which I elaborate;
Schools are like hospitals, students like patients, teachers like doctors and nurses.
Accountability is like Frankenstein.
Administrators and politicians are sitting in building far away, sending Frankenstein to hospitals, provoking him with hot coals, and grading hospitals based on the results. (To truly understand this metaphor is to agree with E. D. Hirsch. But for blogging purposes, Mel Brooks will do.)
Another literary allusion: “Have fun storming the castle!” (25th anniversary of Princess Bride!)
Thank you once again, Diane–FANTASTIC job of setting the record straight.
Here’s a metaphor: Michelle Rhee is like a post-Civil War carpetbagger.
And. like her metaphor, SHE is odd.
Great analogy, ReTiredbutMisstheKids!
So true, and very sick, too, because this faux “Reconstruction” is about using tired metaphors and euphamisms to deflect attention away from the fact that she and her corporate sponsors are pilfering the spoils of a failed War on Poverty.
No doubt they believe that affluence is destiny.
Oh my gosh! I meant simile–metaphors don’t use “like” or “as.”
See, I’ve been away from the classroom for too long. My apologies to all readers.
“Last month, at the GOP convention, Jeb Bush said that choosing schools was like buying milk. Some people like whole milk, some prefer 2% or 1%, or buttermilk or chocolate milk.”
And the specialist in nutrition would recommend, for the vast majority of people, the lowest fat milk.
And seven out of ten? 70 percent? What is she trying to say?
What’s interesting to me is that Rhee’s analogy ignores that public schools are owned by the public and run for the benefit of the public. So, if the “shirts” are getting “scorched”, then we–the public–should take the view of the owner: diagnose the problem and implement a solution.
Since you can’t build and staff and operate schools as easily as you can dry cleaning shops, Rhees analogy is really insipid.
And this woman actually ran a school system?
No, she didn’t run a school system. She attempted to rip it’s heart out though. Always remember the Rheeject is an agent of the most secret North Korean Intelligence Service groomed to destroy the American public K-12 education.
She sure did David. And to her credit she didn’t abuse any children like she did in Baltimore and her hubby; Kevin J was kept away from the kids in DC. At least I hope he was.
But to address your question, she ran it OK-right into the ground. DC’s achievement gap grew to be the widest in the nation under Rhee.
This woman is an affront to civility and educators everywhere. Why she is the go to for ‘edreform’ is beyond me. She hasn’t contributed anything to education or student achievement that can be viewed as positive. The evidence is mounting that what she has done is more damaging than helpful. All she does is run her mouth and does it with that annoying Cali slur when she begins a sentence. I would love to see her teach a class, since she’s and expert on instruction, teaching and learning.
BTW- does anyone know what schools in Tennessee her children go to since their not living with her anymore? I’m curious. It was a big deal in Washington when she entrolled her kids, especially since Fenty’s children were in private school at the time and he was slow in enrolling them in DCPS.
Those who can’t defend their positions based on facts rely on metaphors. Poor metaphors at that.
Rhee should know that even dry cleaners can’t get some stains out. perhaps she should be focusing on what’s staining those shirts before she expects the poor dry cleaner to clean her mess.
Bush failed to recognize that chocolate milk tends to be offered in only one type, where white milk has many choices and qualities.
Is this how they want us to teach students to create persuasive essays? Pull a metaphor out of the air and pretend it works?
Yet they get most of the media attention. Perhaps we DO need to look at how our colleges and universities are preparing students. Let’s begin with the schools of journalism….
But keep in mind that the metaphors are being used to sway the public’s perception and understanding of schooling. Bush and Rhee, honestly or not, want to push the idea that public school should be turned into a marketplace, with parents and children shopping for what they desire.
Now, that’s a ridiculous idea. But they know that Americans are wedded to consumerism, looking at everything as if it was some service or product for sale; this is the results of decades of advertising and phoney-baloney free market dogma. To defeat this, one has to do two things: (1) explain that schools don’t fit this sort of model; and (2) that no amount of “reform” will overcome point (1). In fact trying this will only ruin education for a generation, as the public will learn the hard way that you can’t educate anyone in this way.
The more sinister aspect is that the Bushes and Rhees, representing the 1%, are looking to repeal the approach of the original reformers in creating a very malleable class of workers who will cede all political power. I suspect that many of these reforms are really designed, or will have the effect, of emulating education in places like China that discourage political activity among the masses.
Frankly, I’m worried that they will pull this off, at least in the short run. Just look at the debate over medical care. Medical care as the sort of service that is so unique and urgent that it cannot be subject to market forces: The most basic requirements for a market economy–ease of entry and exit of providers from the market, and the ability to shop for different products and prices–simply doesn’t exist for medical care, where the standard of care, i.e., the most reliable treatments, are often unique. Despite all that, Americans continually fall for the canard that competition among insurers will somehow lead to lower medical costs. They won’t. The rational solution is to create the largest consumer pool possible, i.e., have universal health insurance. But that would really force down profits for the pharmaceutical companies and doctors, and it would likely eliminate or vastly shrink for-profit insurers. And so, we’re forced to have the most expensive mediocre care on the planet by virtue of our free market propaganda. Much the same can be said for schooling.
Dr. Ravitch, you are the articulate voice of reason and truth in a sea of educational madness.
My heartfelt gratitude goes out to you.
Carvalho is the same superintendent who headed Florida’s Race to the Top application. He is the same superintendent who decided it made sense to base 50% of a teacher’s evaluation on the state reading test (even for math teachers). He is obsessed with appearing “innovative” (which means backing merit pay and digital learning), the media, and backing Arne Duncan.
I find it interesting that the truth was referred to as “thank you for your perspective” at the end of the interview. We have a long way to go. Not “thanks for setting the record straight”, thanks for your perspective. How come pundits refuse to take a stand for the truth today, they take what everyone says as their opinion and think fact checking is for someone else?
Which show were you on? I’ve searched NPR’s site and can’t seem to find it. I’d like to listen to the other interviews.
I did find the link to the show. Here it is for others who may be interested.
http://www.npr.org/programs/tell-me-more/
This is the link. http://www.npr.org/2012/10/10/162643516/former-no-child-supporter-says-its-a-failure
The show is called “Tell Me More”
You should listen to Duncan, Rhee, Spellings, etc.
Carvalho apparently thinks it’s “respectful” to fire teachers based off of student test scores of students they have never taught. He claims this absurdity was negotiated with teachers. The only negotiations that took place were between Carvalho and our union president who serves as his lap dog. They both actively worked to deceive teachers into voting in favor of Race to the Top. They disbursed merit pay funds and then told teachers if they voted against Race to the Top that they would have to give the money back. These are people who haven’t had a pay raise or step increase in 6 years. We have not received any “merit pay” this year nor have we received the 50 percent of our evaluations based on test test scores. They have had the test results since last May.
You did an amazing job articulating a lot of facts in a cery short time. Bravo!!!
How about this metaphor….Teachers are like dental hygienists. You shouldn’t evaluate them based on how compliant their student/patient is with the education given to them.
Sad that so many of these people have chosen to become tools of the corporate education reform movement in order to advance their own personal success agendas at the expense of our nation’s most precious resource.
Anyone else notice that lately it’s not uncommon for Diane to speak on a media platform with no less than three or four of the edudeformers ranged against her? Either she finds it difficult to get a word in edgewise or the overwhelming amount of time is devoted to the failed deform narrative.
ArneRhee&Co don’t come on those shows without some idea of who else is appearing. Evidently they must find her such a fearsome opponent that the only way to ‘even’ the odds is to gang up on her [with the agreement of the host media, unfortunately].
Perhaps the edubullies are trying to make it a triad: work hard, be nice, don’t fight fair?
😦
Unfortunately, they miscalculate. Still Diane by TKO before the final bell. Maybe next time they’ll have to make it five or six to one just to make it a majority decision draw.
Many thanks to Diane for taking on the challenge with the odds stacked against her.
🙂
Wherever you find that toxic combination of high poverty and racial segregation, you will find low test scores.
UN OHCHR would like the Obama administration to have a plan (cost out and resources) for addressing this. Anything less would be a “human rights whitewash” according to the ACLU.
What progress have the teachers’ unions made helping out the administration? How much of $2B annual combined budget from teachers’ union dues is spent on this national priority that impacts classrooms?
I think you misunderstand the point of teachers’ unions.
Do candidate screening committees share the UN OHCHR concerns? Do union lawyers and lobbyists promote policies consistent with UN OHCHR? Oath sworn policymakers have constitutions to uphold. Do union staff members share those obligations?
Diane you gave a succinct and truthful answer to the falsehoods that incite resentment towards our public institutions.
We must not forget, however, that although the metaphor of the “scorched shirts” is odd it makes “sense” when floated in the fantasy market place. All America is confused about the “market place” and the wonderful, but very poor, world of so called “free enterprise”. The recession, even the toxic air kids breathe in their decaying cities are the result of free market principles. Make money and damn the rest. It’s an old trick to make the victims think that the victimizer is actually on their side.
Taking public money out of hard pressed public schools, for the benefit of a very few, is simply a crime. It has to be disguised as benefiting someone. If your shirt is in tatters, if it no longer covers you, who will notice it has been scorched?
Better metaphor: Michelle Rhee is taking all of us to the cleaners.
YES!!!
J. Bush’s milk analogy actually defeats his argument. A small number of companies produce a majority of the brands we see in the grocery store. Think Kellogg’s, General Mills, Kraft, Con-Agra, Unilever, Procter & Gamble etc. In their eyes, that’s what we have now in public education: school districts are the companies and individual schools are the brands or flavors those companies produce.
And the small, local dairy farmer is a vanishing breed.
I just listened to your interview. You packed more truth in that small space than I’d have thought possible. Thank you.