In a recent interview, Ann Romney was asked which issue she cared most about. This was her answer.
“AR: I’ve been a First Lady of the State. I have seen what happens to people’s lives if they don’t get a proper education. And we know the answers to that. The charter schools have provided the answers. The teachers’ unions are preventing those things from happening, from bringing real change to our educational system. We need to throw out the system.”
We may safely assume that Mrs. Romney is expressing the views of her husband, the candidate.
This is the line of thought:
1. Charter schools–privately managed, deregulated schools–are the answer to the problems of American education.
2. Teachers’ unions are an obstacle to the privatization that the Romneys favor.
3. “We need to throw out” the American system of public education, the system that has evolved since the 1820s and is embedded in every state constitution.
Make no mistake: this is not a conservative policy, it is radical and extremist.
Will any major journalist notice the far-right extremism of the Romney campaign? If Michelle Obama had said anything so outrageous, it would be reported on front pages across America.
Has any member of the large Romney family ever attended an American public school?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
…and yet so many Americans agree with these radical views. It’s astounding.
I’d say many Americans “agree” with these views, but only because they are ridiculously uneducated about the issue and believe what their Right Wing demagogues tell them.
Oh, the irony…
I’m not an educator, but I sympathize.
I agree strongly with the comments in this post comparing his/her strategy and tactics to guerrilla warfare and teaching subversively. https://dianeravitch.net/2012/10/27/nc-teacher-i-quit/
LIke the isle of Avalon hidden in the mist, If our teachers knew it was there and could visualize it, that they really do have the power. They control physical material to change everything but it is no short term project, 5 years at minimum to see results in 15. It took us more than 50 years to get here. Progressively the PTB have purged the most radical thinkers and look where we are. They undermine every institution by planting corporatists in leadership.
Teach the other side of Freire, critical thinking (anarchic in its very essence), class theory and the history and methods of political control. http://richgibson.com/freirecriticaledu.htm This is nothing less than a capitalist/feudalist war for the minds of our children, and you all are in their way- but you know that. They’ve seized and consolidated the press, and this is the next leg.
I believe that some of the libertarians and conservatives in the working class maybe right, even if it’s for some of them- the wrong reasons.
They want to abolish the Federal Dept of Eduction and rescind the taxes as its the fulcrum of control. Devolve the power locally away from the bureaucrats and oligarchs where teachers and our communities have a fighting chance. No form of blight is an accident.
Not every libertarian is an idiot and some progressives have a tendency for hubris. I was impressed by Michael Ostrolenk, and how he worked with the left on the “Audit the Fed” bill. He has a speech on the net called the Transpartisan Imperative in Public Policy. Even Noam Chomsky is an Anarchic or Libertarian Socialist. My point is that progressives and liberals unintentionally become the useful idiots of capitalists. They ameliorate or apply palliatives to the damage but never change the system itself. See progressives history with Taylorism.
I also found this speech by Professor Tom Divine. http://youtu.be/lvoSEKu9sVw? t=37m10s – the whole speech is worth listening to, but for brevity, at 38 minutes or so he talks about pre-reformation Scottish Eduction, which London has almost destroyed, but my question to you all is, does it have common roots with our own? Old Text books on archive dot org are much more difficult than anything I ever used in school.
Anyway, I appreciate teachers and am sad to see what is being done to you, to our kids and our society. These are acts of war no less than the economic war being waged against the Iranians and Palestinians. It’s an ancient art only taught to the children fo elites, and it’s finally come home. They are creating the worlds biggest plantation through the propagation of agnosia. We have been colonized.
How different is her statement from what Obama believes? Perhaps he’d stop short of wholesale dismantling of the system, but he definitely thinks charter schools are the solution, and he thinks teachers unions (“collective bargaining”, as he mentioned on Education Nation) are obstacles to “reform”.
RIght on, Diene! It’s long past time we stop falling for the hammer and anvil strategy of the Demolicans–The GOP speaks the crazy talk; the Democrats pass the crazy legislation. Michelle’s husband, as we’ve seen quite pointedly in his lack of support for the CTU and bargaining rights in WI, his appointment and support of Arne Duncan ant RTTT, and his complete contempt of the letter writing campaign by so many readers of this ‘blog, makes it clear that the only difference between the parties is their outsward expression of contempt for our democracy and public institutions.
Sometimes it’s the dog who doesn’t bark that’s the bigger threat.
My thoughts exactly. Both men and many others in their respective parties are merely shills for ALEC et al. Where education is concerned.
It’s identical to Obama’s. The only real difference is Obama is a lot sneakier about it.
There is NOBODY standing for democracy and our institutions.
Maybe her charters will have a dressage team! Go Rafalca!
This made me laugh…but I had to google “dressage” and Rafalca.
If we don’t laugh, we will cry or drink or both..not so bad some days.
The dressage, the horses have helped Ann Romney deal with MS. And it has helped, obviously. If not, she would be an invalid, paralyzed. She has helped others with MS. Why do you mock that? Why do you think that’s funny?
As crazy as her view, Obama’s is not very different.
Sad for both sides.
The “falling schools” meme continues unchallenged…. Will anyone write to Good Housekeeping to tell them that POVERTY is the problem and NOT teachers unions? Would Good Housekeeping publish the letter if it was sent?
Does anybody else here remember reading Gerald Bracey’s article on the fallacy of failing schools back in the 1990s? I don’t even remember what magazine it was in, but if I recall correctly, he shows how this idea is a myth all the way back to the “Nation at Risk” report, which he said cherry-picked data to make the worst possible case for schools.
“I’ve been a First Lady of the state…” As if this serves as some type of real-world experience?!?! This is very disappointing.
I doubt that she’s ever stayed at a Holiday Inn Express either.
Actually, those views sound very similar to those of Arne Duncan, who publicly stated Katrina was the best thing to happen to public education in New Orleans. In fact, his outright endorsement of a disaster made it somewhat worse. I don’t recall Michelle Obama or her husband raising any objection whatsoever, and all indications are that Arne and his primitive philosophy will get another term with Barack.
So all those teachers who plan on voting Romney Ryan pay attention. Maya Angelou once said, “when some one tells you who they are, believe him”. She has just told “you people” who they are, believe her!
And Obama lies to us and we believe him? Nope!
We don’t have two parties..we have two brands controlled by corporations and the wealthy. Neither represent the people.
Time for a revolution!
Linda: You are right. One is a Chevrolet and the other is a Buick. On the outside, they are different, but on the inside, they share many of the same parts.
Both major parties are so out of touch with reality, they seem to speak Martian. I’m voting for a third party this year. Even if that candidate has a snowflake’s chance in hell, I feel it will send a clearer message than the “lesser of two evils” strategy.
Someone posted yesterday..the evil of two lessers…seems more appropriate. I will also vote third party.
Third party voters, I beg you, please reconsider! In a race this close –this close!– your symbolic vote for Door #3 could accidentally land us all with a Romney presidency. Please don’t be a one-issue voter. I’m no fan of Arne Duncan or Race To the Top, either. But this presidential election will have far-reaching ramifications that extend beyond education policy alone.
Too late…neither party represents us, so implode and revolt now or later.
We have been abandoned. It is a lose lose either way.
The evil of two lessers and I am borrowing that from a witty poster whose name I do not remember right now.
If Obama cared so much he wouldn’t have send out hundreds of bullshit form letters that didn’t address any of our concerns. He thinks because he has the union endorsement, he has the teacher vote. Far from it, sir!
Has there ever been an election where Democrats don’t say this? ..
or Republicans for that matter?
See Professor Roberto Ugners videos- beyond Obama. They have to be defeated for multiple reasons, so that we can reimagine a new direction, we cannot reinforce the idea that they can continue to throw the people under the bus election after election and that we have no choice. http://www.clowncrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/TheFountainOfTruth.jpg and third, there is no opposition to Obama, the people are settling for tokenism with men like him and Cory Booker. We thought that by electing minorities we were breaking glass ceilings, but hey kicked the ladder away. The PTB know that appointing native puppets as governors in our client states is more efficient that direct rule. Don’t be fooled.
Doesn’t it matter more in battleground states? I live in Texas, and there is no chance that it will go to Obama, no matter how many of us in the blue urban areas vote for Obama. In Texas, the electoral college will vote red no matter what.
Register your disapproval. Only by writing in a 3rd party or leaving the top of the ticket blank and voting down ticket races will this work.
If you don’t vote at all they will spin the results, and the plutarchy likes apathetic voters. You still demonstrate to the rest of the public your disapproval, and create a data trail to measure the possibility of popular future action.
Despite the fact that Obama and Romney are radically different on many of their views concerning the preservation of public systems, a lot of third-party voters seem to focus on little else except one issue. We all care about public eduction, and there are avenues we can utilize to dethrone Duncan, but if Obama loses votes, nobody can guarantee that Romney will not be advantaged by it. “Voting one’s conscience” in this sense can do more harm than good.
I don’t want to be the one who says, “I told you so,” when all the experienced educators among us lose our jobs because the Romney presidency that many voters inadvertently made happen will push for every state to adopt “right to work” (for less) legislation. Obama hasn’t shown a complete lack of support for teachers–he’s been openly selective about whom his policies affect which obviously is harmful to some at-risk communities (and absolutely, this needs to change), however Romney WILL seek to move all of our public systems into voucher territory. There is no room for negotiation on the issues of social security, Medicare, and education with a Romney/Ryan administration. All of these should be issues that color our votes.
The possibility of a more progressive turn for Obama in a second term is there. Right now, he is trying to get re-elected. NCLB was there when he took office. Did anyone seriously think he was going to radically change every single policy set up by his predecessor in a first term? That would be suicide in today’s political climate especially since his largest opponent’s party has made it clear that their mission is to see that the man fails in his first term. The issues are far more multi-faceted than many “conscience-voters” would like to believe. Let’s be smart about the situation. Let’s work on changing the system, not completely dismantling it.
I know people have felt betrayed since the changes in education that have come down the pike may seem to have “appeared out of nowhere,” but we know that the specter of vouchers has existed for decades. I wonder, what did the voters-of-conscience do to prevent moves of privatization back when it all started? Were they at the rallies? Did they protest outside their state legislatures? Did they write and call their representatives and senators? Or did they stand by going about their business until RttT “came for them?” These issues have permeated the public view. We have to be smart about how we move to influence the direction in which education is going. We need to fight fire with fire–beat the politicians at their own game. Relying on candidates with very little political clout is indeed honorable, but it won’t get us anywhere.
The “one issue” just happens to be a cornerstone of democracy. If you are against public education, you are against democracy. Obama is a rotten candidate and president. At least with a Romney you would have a Democratic Senate that would actually fight. Not with Obama.
If you can guarantee a democratic senate with Romney, I would vote third-party in a heart-beat. I do not see that happening, but I do look forward to taking Obama to task if he gets re-elected.
However, I do not look forward to losing my job because my experience makes me too expensive if Romney gets in the White House. I do not look forward to the SCOTUS turning completely right-wing radical if Romney gets elected. I do not look forward to playing roulette with my retirement and health benefits if Romney gets elected.
By all means, vote your conscience, but keep in mind how this works. As amazing as Jill Stein is, she simply will not get elected. A vote for her or any other third-party candidate is essentially a vote for Romney. I vote to march right up to Obama and battle it out with him–in his second term.
Amen, LG!
A Romney presidency would be bad; maybe bad enough to jolt the democrats out of their neoliberal torpor so that they behave more democratically.
Hard to find where Ann Romney gets her evidence to prove the position on Charter Schools…in fact, hard to find this information up to date anywhere. On the Center for Public Education website, there are these conclusions from The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (2009a) (NAPCS) and Betts and Tang (2008).
“Some charters do better; the majority do the same or worse. The Center for Research on Education Outcomes [analysis] also moved beyond individual student performance to examine the overall performance of charter schools across multiple subject areas. They found that while some charter schools do better than the traditional public schools that fed them, the majority do the same or worse. Almost one-fifth of charters (17 percent) performed significantly better (at the 95 percent confidence level) than the traditional public school. However, an even larger group of charters (37 percent) performed significantly worse in terms of reading and math. The remainder (46 percent) did not do significantly better or worse.
Results vary from state to state. Most studies found that performance varied based on students’ location. It is noteworthy to compare state-by-state achievement with data on public school authorizers, though no study has directly analyzed the two.”
Apparently, many studies on public vs. charter are thrown out because of poor quality design or minimal data.
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Organizing-a-school/Charter-schools-Finding-out-the-facts-At-a-glance
It’s hard to find most anything from the Romney camp that is based in evidence.
Agree totally! And their stance is constantly changing, i.e. they lie! I don’t feel he can keep up with all the untruths he’s told. Romney/Ryan would be Bush regime on steroids. I was just getting over my PTSD from those 8 years.
Evidence, we don’t need no stinkin evidence.
First Lady of Bizarro World …
I usually like most First Ladies despite their husbands. But I never liked Ann. Her comments are always curt. And I couldn’t help notice her own daughters-in-law had pursed lips while she was speaking at the convention while her sons were all smiles.
Stepford Wives in the flesh! Creepy…really creepy.
Food shopping with the Romney women….
Yeah, but most men love those low cut fronts! (quite risque for the times).
… “We need to throw out” the American system of public education …
David Coleman would not be so reckless. A construction that relies on the actual text would be:
“We need to throw out the system” that ruins “people’s lives” when “they don’t get a proper education.”
The ACLU has successfully contested bumping (Reed) when the practice harms California school children. Anyone care to defend a system that subordinates human rights of schoolchildren to negotiated agreements for teachers? (Oh, I guess UTLA’s appeal speaks for itself in that regard.)
That said, a proper case study of Massachusetts’ success (Education Reform Act of 1993, McDuffey, and Hancock with insights provided by Stotsky and Greaney) is overdue.
When the New York Times made their endorsement for President, no mention was made of education.
To LG:
Obama could care less what teachers think now when he needs our votes. He will care even less IF he is re-elected. He will then have absolutely no use for us at all. Not much will change..it will only get worse.
Will Romney be better? No. He will be far worse. If his power to appoint radicals to the Supreme Court FOR LIFE isn’t enough to scare you, I don’t know what will. And, no, I don’t believe that anyone should be scared into voting one way or another, but a Romney presidency frightens me beyond belief.
Forget checks and balances. No matter how much Congress can grill and/or disapprove of a president’s choice for SCOTUS, the chances that a sitting president will not have a major impact on our society through the appointments of judges are slim-to-none. If you can guarantee that Romney will not appoint judges who are radical extremists, I may reconsider my vote, but I do not believe that the SCOTUS is safe with a Romney presidency. I’ll take my chances with the devil I know. He, at least, will prevent a radical take-over of this branch of government. As with education, this issue is important to the preservation of our democracy especially considering the fact that these appointments can affect education laws (such as Brown v. Board of Education) for several decades to come.
If you can also prove that a third-party candidate can get into the White House in this next election, you will have convinced me to vote that way. However, I do not believe that anyone can make that claim. It stinks that third parties have no power or influence to get a candidate elected now, but I don’t believe that the future of our people has a chance with Romney at the helm. He WILL dismantle every life system as we know it to a degree that is far worse than any of us think our systems are in peril now.
In addition, Romney-Ryan will likely restrict voters’ rights. Cutting back on early voting and requiring IDs that students, the elderly and the poor don’t have are components of their agenda. Once they are in, it will be significantly harder to get them out.
They aren’t restricting peoples’ rights to vote. That’s a ridiculous lie that Joe Biden and others have spread.
But in 2008, the Black Panthers did restrict peoples’ rights to vote by intimidation. They actually held billy clubs at voting locations. Obama’s administration, the Department of Justice, did nothing about it. In fact, Eric Holder dismissed the case.
Wow! Losingyourmindtopropaganda.
NOPE, not scared, can’t scare me with the boogie man Romney.
Vote third party.
The best reason to vote 3rd party is to help them qualify to get on the ballots automatically next election and for public matching funds. The two party system engages in a racket to shut out competition from all aspects of the election. The third paries really need state and local candidates in office, as bottom up power change, top down structures without support are weak but this is where we ware.
David Frum,when analyzing the race between Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren said the amount of fear the PR team pushes shows how vulnerable they are, otherwise they would put out positive messages. Fear activates your fight or flight instinct and you wont engate your brain- and vote for long term interests.
My old friend, LG. How are you? So define radical. You are describing to a T what has happened during the Obama administration (i.g. radical judge appointees who got through, and executive orders).
Because Sotomeyer, the Wise Latina, admitted that she likes to legislate from the bench. And Kagen is one of the most inexperienced appointees ever. She hasn’t even been a judge before and has a most radical record.
Romney would appoint judges who would uphold the U.S. Constitution. If that is what you mean by “radical,” then you are beyond help.
I’m sitting here without electricity and heat, but otherwise, I’m well. Thank you for asking.
Probably the biggest indicator that Romney will follow a radical agenda comes from his promises to govern this country as per many of the social stances of the religious extreme right.
Religious policies do not belong in government. I believe we’ve had this particular conversation before regarding separation of church and state.
Learn more about her here…cyber charter victim:
http://knittogetherinlove.wordpress.com/the-virtues-of-virtual-charter-schools/#comment-3
I have no hope of change with Romney. My job is already gone. My pension is already in danger as well as my eligibility to pay for healthcare through the retirement system. I am not eligible for social security during the time I was employed in teaching and my benefits from when I paid in would be reduced if they still exist. My group healthcare insurance is about to run out (Cobra).
However, I really am not interested in having a president who not only insults half of his own people but manages to insult one of our closest allies as well (Great Britain). It’s time for “the greatest country in the world” to play nice. We have forgotten how to speak softly, and we don’t need a bigger stick. We don’t need a capitalist czar making environmental policy. We don’t need a president who panders to the most extreme elements of his party picking the next Supreme Court justice. We don’t need a president who has yet to demonstrate the value of compromise leading an already dysfunctional Congress.
We don’t need someone who only thinks he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps telling the rest of us how to do it.
I know, Can you believe that Obama sent the bust of Churchill back to the Brits?
The Greatest Country in the Universe” doesn’t need a bigger military stick. so why is Obama going to cut SS “entitlements but not even the growth trajectory of the war budget? It’s guns or butter, baby.. by jingo..
And it’s too bad that Obama prodded the Senate about not approving Alito, and then sent the patriot act loving Elana Kagan and the whishy-washy on -Abortion rights Sotomayor to the SCOTUS.
There are two busts. One was returned with other art loaned to President Bush at the end of his presidency. The other is still in the White House.
Let’s agree to disagree. I’m not happy with Obama but I’m scared of Romney.
Oh, and lest I forget, Are you eating the frankenshrimp from the Gulf?
How about Pacific Seafood? it’s loaded with Polonium and the company that gave us Fukushima is still lobbying for Nuke Plants in the US.
How did you like the monstrous ecocide that Corexit and oil gave the already critically endangered sea critters in the gulf? How do you feel about the censored pictures of the dying whales and dolphins? Reassigning the Coast guard for Private BP Security- taking water samples by force away from scientists, or forbidding Private Charter planes from taking reporters and photographers over the gulf?
They could have shut Macando in 2 weeks but Obama allowed BP to try to save the well for future production. He may also appoint the CEO of BlackRock to the Treasury. He’s also a major stockholder of BP.
And yet Massachusetts is in the two or three in the country in education – PUBLIC EDUCATION!! Romney never cared much for the public education system in Massachusetts, so it stands to reason Mrs. doesn’t either. Their bias was built on having no real interaction with public education, its educators and more importantly, its students. The reason we have moved to the top is because local taxpayers value education and the state made a huge financial committment with The Education Reform Act of 1993 – and they faithfully funded it. This disdain for public education is only matched by their true contempt for the 47%.
And, once again, the question must be asked–what does Ann Romney know about public schools? Did any of her sons or do any of her grandchildren (if she has any)
attend public schools? Easy to talk about that which one knows NOTHING about.
Further, THAT’s why politicians do NOT understand the meaning or importance of prior knowledge (one hugomongous reason that poverty is so great a factor in education)–they, themselves, are not in possession of any! But, in this case (RE:wealthy people, the 1%), ignorance IS bliss.
From what I understand, Mitt Romney attended public school up until the 7th grade. Unfortunately, the possibility of making money will cause this family to do just about anything – even dismantling one of America’s proudest and most successful systems.
I agree with many of these posts that Obama isn’t much different (see my opinion piece, “Teachers Confused for Good Reason” CT Post 10/27/12) than Romney but it is important that we have him reelected. If reelected, then public school teachers across the country can “put his feet to the fire” by first demanding that he dump Arne Duncan and secondly, that he replace Duncan with an educator who has a vision for public education as well as the support and respect of the nation’s teachers. Two ideal candidates would be Linda Darling Hammond or Diane Ravitch. It can be done with solidarity of the nation’s teachers forming a national movement that would rattle the pseudo- reformers and politicians’ world !
Obama is a neoliberal of the Chicago School of Economics thinking. No different than Romney, except he hasn’t managed to steal as much wealth yet as Romney has. If you believe the teachers can hold Obama’s feet to the fire I’ve got some great ocean front property down at Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri that is selling cheaply. By buying you can help me realize my plans to become a 1%er.
I just can’t let this comment slide by. I’m only a homeschooler (just left our online charter school–was tired of government infringing in our home life), but saying that Obama is no “different than” Romney is grammatically incorrect. “Different than” doesn’t mean anything. The correct way to express that is “(Obama is) No different ‘FROM’ Romney.”
But that statement is also factually incorrect. Romney is different from Obama, he’s competent and he’s not an anti-colonial socialist who let Ambassador Stevens and 3 other brave men be massacred at the hands of terrorists when he could have prevented it. He cares more about Islamo-Fascist sensibilities than he does about American lives. No, Romney is different from Obama.
Romney also wants to keep big government out of education. That would mean that NCLB and other standardizations wouldn’t interfere with your jobs as teachers.
Romney is a liar and he’s for whatever will get him elected and then he will take care of the wealthy only. He will not protect teachers. He will cut back and voucherize the entire system. Public schools will be for the poor and middle class worker bees whose jobs he will eliminate. Romney is a fraud.
If you are not a cyber mom anymore you should probably update your WordPress page.
Oh no, here we go…someone with a PhD. needs a homeschool mom, who tried university, but could only graduate from a massage therapy school, to correct his grammar.
Please within the sound of my voice, stop saying and writing “different than.” Different “than” doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t make sense.
The correct way to say it is “different from.” Please repeat, different FROM.
I think “different than” degenerated from “differently than,” which is a passable thing to say.
And putting Obama’s feet to the fire is not a good reason to get him reelected.
Your time on the instituion’s computer is up. Back to your room please.
Be careful, Linda. The home-school police might write you a ticket for bad spelling in order to meet her end-of-the-month quota. 😉
I know …no power…on iPhone..typo…institution….knit together is not too tightly wrapped, huh?
This is so sad, but as a teacher I do side with those who say Obama is not any better on education. Race to Disaster is going to deal the final blow to teachers who do anything beyond lock-step test prep. Research shows that nearly all students can be prepped to put test material in their short term memory. It’s that pesky ability to retain information that isn’t being tasked. I’m astonished every year at my students’ wonderful high-stakes test grades from the previous year. Yet, they come to me and know very little.
I am a pro-public school businessperson in a very red state. I have been undecided in this election because of both candidates’ support for charter schools. However, after reading Ann Romney’s severe comments, which are unprecedented by either campaign in their level of extremism and delusion, I cannot support her husband for President. Thank you, Diane, for giving me clarity. We still have a major fight on our hands, regardless of who wins on Tuesday.
Look, charter schools are public schools too. It’s all about improving education for all the different kinds of learners there are. Mrs. Romney’s comments are not severe, but the headline Ravitch chose was the thing that was severe and extreme.
Instead of reading Ravitch articles that are biased, it would be more intelligent to actually read the words of Romney and his educational plan. Try it, you might like it.
The only public part of charter schools is the money and the students. You are misinformed. Romney doesn’t have a plan. Oh yes… He says class size does not matter. That’s his plan.
The reason that the teachers’ unions don’t like charter schools is because teachers at the charter schools don’t often belong to the teachers’ unions. And the teachers’ unions want all the power.
But if parents have found a good school that fits their kids, why don’t you just live and let live. Let other Americans make their choices. And you make your choices.
Here’s a historic gem from the 1997 Atlantic magazine. The Near Myth of the Failing School.
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97oct/fail.htm
Here’s a song to start Ann’s “proper education” on the topic of education…
By making these statements, she just proves that her and her husband are both ignorant to the problems of public education. Charter Schools are a farce! Any school that is permitted to pick and choose their students are of course going to choose the cream of the crop. Therefore the scores are going to be high. Making seem like they are doing well. My question is, what happens to the average student, the struggling student and most of the the special education students? How and where do they access a free appropriate public education if no charter school accepts them? And if they do get accepted to a charter, the school keeps them until they are given their budget, then they are put out and the school keeps the money allotted for that student. Good scam! Believe me I’ve am a teacher and have lived this scenario year after year, so I speak from personal experience. Also what most people don’t realize is that most of the monies allotted to that charter goes towards paying the ceo of the school. Not the teachers who are providing the education and not on the students. For the past 100 years children have successfully graduated from “public school” and have done very well for themselves, so why all of a sudden we need charters? I’ll tell you why, money hungry politicians! If you look into who “runs” most of your charters, they are politicians or someone who knows a politician. So let them continue making money off the backs of your children! What the public schools do need is support, both financially. administratively and most importantly parentally!!!
As far as No Child Left Behind, there are more children getting left behind now because of No Child Left Behind that ever before. Their motto is pass a test for money, not learn to think for life. Any one with a brain will “Back our public schools”!!!
Wow! This one got a lot of comments.
I am curious, Ms. Ravitch, did you start out as a copy editor for the National Enquirer? The attention grabbing headlines you choose for your articles, do grab attention, but when we read them and also read the original subject in context that you write about, we see that you are taking things out of context and sensationalizing them for your own political (self-contradictory, at times) agenda as a teachers’ unionite.
“Shocking” “Extremist View”? I think that those headlines are rather shocking and extremist. How can you say our future first lady’s view is shocking and extremist, when there are millions of Americans who completely agree with her. Your headlines are irresponsible.
And there are many many more millions who disagree with the out of touch Romneys who never sent their kids to public schools. What does she know about teaching and learning? Is she a certified teacher? She knows nothing about teaching and learning.
Linda, as a homeschooling hottie, I take exception to your criticism of Mrs. Romney and mothers in general. Mothers are the primary teachers for their children. She has taught her children well. Just look at them. You sound like Hilary Rosen or Bill Maher as they criticized Ann Romney. The Romneys are not out of touch. But that’s what the left wing biased media has been telling you.
The Romneys are down to earth, kind, and honest people. And you are saying rude things that are not true about them.
Down to earth…car elevator, dressage, go Rafalca, multiple homes, several luxurious automobiles, regular folk..great comedy here.
Entertaining too.
They earned it, they can do whatever they want with their money. They have donated millions to charity. Have let people live long term in their homes for free. They have also started a scholarship in the name of my cousin’s wife who died.
I think you’re describing John Kerry.
And if I were you, I wouldn’t get my political news from Saturday Night Live.
Car elevator? Have you seen their CA home? It’s on a postage stamp of land. They were saving space. And they wanted to build a home that would hold them and their kids, and grandkids. They provided jobs for home builders, and BTW Ann Romney has MS.
Many people have MS. Your point?
They earned it? Are you referring to the money Romney inherited or the the money he made from investments?
Also, just because Ann Romney has MS does not mean that she can spout off ridiculous statements about public institution she clearly knows nothing about. I do not understand why her medical history would even enter into it.
LG…she is a cyber mom who dropped out of cyber charters and she is now a homeschool mom and the Romney’s named a scholarship after a relative who died, thus her allegiance to the 1%. Make sense? Crystal clear.
Cold hearted comment about my cousin’s wife who died in child birth. Just because i’m a stay at home mom, doesn’t mean I’m in the 1%. We’re struggling pay check to pay check.
Obama talks about Big Bird and plays 100+ rounds of golf, skips out on security briefings. He makes time to appear on entertainment talk shows, but refuses to meet with Bibi.
Romney talks about the economy, jobs, national security.
Who’s out of touch?
The real question is who is more out of touch and the answer is Mittens!
Obama also makes childish word games in his stump speeches like, “Romnesia.” “Mittens” is another word game Obama’s supporters use.
It’s better to talk about the real issues like a mature grown up. Romney does that. With Obama, it’s all just more of the same. “Roads and bridges….” And a negative, lying spin..
He’s got the mainstream media in the tank for him. If it were a Republican president, or even Bill Clinton who refused help to Americans in Benghazi, that president would have been skinned alive by the media.
Oh, in reply to “Many people have MS, what’s your point?”
…..I meant that a car elevator saves space and it also is helpful to people who have degenerative diseases like MS, and the horses are therapeutic. Why focus on those things? Why focus on this house that the Romneys built with their own money? What about the lavish vacations the Obama’s have taken? A lot of that was done on tax payers’ shoulders.
To my old friend LG, Romney donated his entire nheritance to a university. And we pray for those who are out of power, morning, and suffering after the storm.
Ah, well that explains the allegiance.
To tied up in knots….I don’t know too many MS sufferers who have their own horse to ride. If it is so effective, Ann should start an MS horse farm and help others with this debilitating disease. She certainly can afford it. That will keep her busy when Mitt loses.
Maybe she has done that. The Romneys are quiet about the service they do. It’s other people who have revealed a little bit of the service they have done. Please stop being disrespectful to a great lady.
Do you have something against mothers who choose to stay home to raise their own kids?
You are overpersonalizing the comments and this is not about you. Stay at home moms are great. I was one.
However, that is not how your comments define you.
I am sure there is a blog out there praising Ann Romney..read that and you will be happier. This is not the crowd for you.
We are all entitled to our opinions.
I agree with you last sentence.
I must also reply that it is actually you who are making this all about me, by telling everyone that I’m a charter school mom, or a former charter school mom. You’ve posted the same things about me as replies to other articles too. And others have. It seems like some of you are making this all about me and are making jokes about my moniker, “knittogetherblablabla.”
I am not making it about me. I’m just sharing my experience, research, and opinions. I reply when I disagree or agree with someone’s opinion, especially when they are replying to a previous comment of mine.
No need to gang up on a parent who believes that parents know what’s best for their kids and likes choice in education.
No that’s not it…it was your stance on the Romney’s…not that you are a mom or a mom who home schools. You are spinning it that way to play the victim when you were the one insulting others for not believing in the altruism of Ann and Mitt. Opinions vary and look back to your first post…you were insulting our host and now you are backpeddling.
Off the page difficult to read…repost here:
No that’s not it…it was your stance on the Romney’s…not that you are a mom or a mom who home schools. You are spinning it that way to play the victim when you were the one insulting others for not believing in the altruism of Ann and Mitt. Opinions vary and look back to your first post…you were insulting our host and now you are backpeddling.
It would be helpful if those against Romney would study the facts instead of going on yellow journalism. Name calling like “Mittens” doesn’t help your case either.
I’m not playing a victim by saying that Romney established a scholarship in a relative’s name. I’m just illustrating that he is a kind, thoughtful, generous, man who is economically literate and loves America. Very capable man.
It is the Obama campaign, which includes the mainstream media, and the unions, who spin negatively. And spread lies. People believe the lies instead of finding out the truth for themselves.
It’s not the scholarship in my relaitive’s name that makes me want to vote for Romney. That would not be a reason to vote for someone.
Both sides do the same thing…Romney is not innocent of these tactics.. Sometimes the facts get in the way for both parties. Presently I do not support O or R.
Interesting take titled: These guys.
Done!
No harm in caring for people. However, I’m not thoroughly convinced Romney has the best interests of the public in its entirety at heart. It’s been stated over and over by Romney and Ryan that their administration would seek to end public systems as we know them and instead leave public institutions to market whims. The privatization of the social safety net would be disastrous to the citizens of this country. Romney may care for some of the people, but he has not shown that he cares for all of the people. A presidency that caters to a portion of the public is radical, and we should work to prevent anyone with these “ideals” from ever entering the White House.
Thanks for your well-wishes and concerns. We were among some of the luckier people who had little damage from Sandy. The hardest thing now is living without power, gas, and soon, food.
Most supermarkets and gas stations in the immediate area are closed due to lack of power. Stores that are open on generator power are not accepting perishable deliveries from food distributors from outlying areas. Food distribution businesses with power are losing money left and right since their customers cannot accept their products. Supermarkets are also losing revenue due to this. The supermarkets and gas stations that are open have provisions in short supply. Many gas stations are only accepting cash–this is making it difficult for those people whose bank branches are not operating. ATMs will be running out of cash soon, too.
People have prepared for several days, but if we don’t get power, gas, and supplies by next week, we will have a great deal of civil unrest. The shore is such mess–so many without homes now. The schools with generators or regular power are being used as emergency shelters.
Without FEMA, NJ would never be able to come out of this. To leave disaster recovery funding to the state and to the private citizens who are affected by this disaster would bankrupt the majority of New Jersey residents. Privatizing systems would cripple and, in many instances, completely wipe out our society. Now is not the time for “business practices” to solve our societal problems. This is why we will not survive under a Romney presidency.
Did the hurricane descend on us the week before the election to prove how much we need a president who cares about public systems? Haha…no. But it makes you wonder, doesn’t it? 😛
I don’t go by media spin.
I go by what the candidate says.
Hisublished education platform persuaded me that he intends to defund public education and privatize as much as possible.
Well, I”m sorry that your reading comprehension skills are so wanting.
YOU are rude, disrepecful, narrow minded and full of yourself. As a once stay at home mom, I am embarrassed to have one thing in common with you. Fool.
Here is full post and worth repeating:
YOU are rude, disrepecful, narrow minded and full of yourself. As a once stay at home mom, I am embarrassed to have one thing in common with you. Fool.
What happened to the love..change your moniker to tiedtogetherwithhate.